Why is a raven like a writing desk? (Or, my latest furniture refurb...)

I am SO excited to be showing you this... I could pretty much only be prouder if I had built the thing myself.....

Before:

After:

What I did:

Scraped off the old varnish & sanded (by hand!!!!), painted interior shelves, stained & varnished outside with 3 separate coats, waiting 8 hours between coats, replaced handles, decoupaged desk top (whatever that green stuff is would not be painted...).

Filled with crafty goodness.

This was intended to be my 'little projects' craft spot in the lounge room, but I love it so much I think I may be spending a lot more time using it than previously anticipated.

You can probably tell I am pretty damn chuffed with my efforts - first time I have really got into the nitty gritty what with the sanding and everything - it was a test of my patience and my need for I.C.G (Instant Craft Gratification) but I got there in the end!

This would have looked much more impressive...

...if I had a better camera. Or lens. Or something.

To you I mean. To us it DID look pretty spectacular - a rainbow that seemed to arch right over our backyard. :)

And The Winner Is....

Toni Collette!

I was so excited to hear this morning that Toni Collette had picked up an Emmy (Outstanding actress in a comedy) for her performance in United States Of Tara - So truly deserved! (And how GORGEOUS is she in her spiffy frock?!)

I heard a little grab on the radio where she said she hoped that her own daughter doesn't end up in therapy trying to figure out why she had been breastfed at times by a strange man - how great is that...?!

United States of Tara is my favourite show this year - I just can't get enough of it - I watch the same episode two nights in a row, I'm disappointed when it ends and edgy before it starts, it's wonderful and incredibly addictive.

There are a few reasons why I think it is so awesome, not least is Toni's magnificent performance as Tara, Alice, Buck, T and more disturbingly of late - Gimme. With Diablo Cody of Juno fame writing and Steven Spielberg producing - I think a hit was assured from the start.

The concept of the show is original, quirky, touching and funny, the characters rich and intriguing.... ahhhhhhh, can you not feel the love...?!

For the uninitiated (...and I pity you);

Overview;

"Tara Gregson is a wife and mother with dissociative identity disorder (DID). After deciding to take a break from her medication to discover the real cause of her disorder, her alternate personalities re-emerge: wild and flirty teenager T; old-fashioned housewife Alice; and male, loud, beer-drinking Vietnam vet Buck. Tara is supported by her calm and level-headed husband Max, her somewhat troubled teenage daughter Kate and quirky, good-hearted gay son Marshall. Her sister, Charmaine, is not so supportive, often expressing her doubt about the validity of Tara's disorder." - Wikipedia

Apart from the antics of Tara and her alters, I really enjoy the subplots involving Marshall and Kate - okay. You've caught me. There is nothing about this show I don't enjoy - from it's craft-inspired opening credits to it's all too soon end.

Congratulations Toni! (I soooooooo know you happen to avidly read my little blog lmao) You rock!!

Over My. Dead. Body.

Arnold.

A great name for;

The Govinator....

A Cartoon character with a football-shaped head....

A Pig....

A sitcom character.

But NOT, I repeat, NOT, for a child born into the Punky household. Now I assure you this is not some sort of coded announcement, I am not "with child" and have no intention of becoming so any time soon, but I have resigned myself to the idea that it will probably happen sometime in the next 5 years. I am quite happy just with a Punk, or, would be more eager if another girl could be assured, I like the idea of having 2 girls.... but The Boy wants a boy funnily enough, and not only that, he wants to call him Arnold. After a dog. His favourite dog. When he was 9.

I have said "Sure!" but there is one condition; I will have to die in childbirth first.

Finds From Far Away Opshops...

Okay, that sounds rather more dramatic than it was - we just drove for an hour & twenty minutes... but still, it was pretty far for Punky, she HATES going in the car.

First Oppy we found had these;

...I'd have rathered boots, no doubt, preferably in cherry red like my old ones before they fell apart, but oppers can't be choosers!! $8.

27 copies of Golden Hands mag for $2.... they are so. freaking. marvelous;

Things like this make me wish I could knit;

Examples of adult clothes reconned into kids outfits, HOW AWESOME is this?!

When we got back to town, The Boy was off to get a hair cut (finally!!!) and because too much opping is never enough, Le Punk & I had a quick peruse around another & I bought a good, solid writing desk for $25 - I am currently considering what I am going to do with it cosmetic-wise, so I am holding off on pics, but functionally it is going to be my little craft space in the lounge room - for small projects or times at night when it's freezing in my craft area & I feel cold & alone out there... ;)

Who Farted?

From an opshop find a few years ago;

Handmade Home; Book Review.

First of all, anyone who might be expecting something that resembles a "professional" review in any way... well... avert your eyes!!! This is just me rambling on about a book I was lucky enough to win.... ;)

Right! So, Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule, of SouleMama fame;


The day I got the book I couldn't resist having a quick flick through it - and from that I have to say that I was rather disappointed. Being a bit of a craft/repurposing nut, there was little in the form of projects that I haven't seen before, either in other books or on the Internet, so with a sigh I put it aside and went about my business. (I have to say here though that I loved the vibe of the book, the feel of it, the pictures...)

Last night however, I sat down with a cuppa after dinner and actually read it. The whole thing. From cover to cover. Imagine that... actually reading a book... as opposed to just looking at the pretty pictures, as I had done.

Well. That will learn me to just flick through - judge a book by it's cover if you will, because this IS a gorgeous book.

I discovered that Amanda is a woman after my heart, albeit a more productive, eloquent version. ;)

She loves vintage, she loves old, she loves "thrifting" or opping to those of us on this side of the world. She is a 'homebody'. She tries to tread lightly on the earth. She loves to make things for her family and to enjoy them and to dream.

This book is intended for the novice or beginner sewer, in my opinion, as most crafters would have come across most of the projects in this book already, as I had, as we are a curious and searching bunch, but after reading it, I don't think it should be limited to this group alone.

It is also undoubtedly aimed at 'Mamas', although there are projects that anyone could do and enjoy, but there is a lot of using your kids art work or making things for or with your kids - which I loved.

The book is divided into sections;

• Nourish: Projects to Inspire Family Feasts
• Nurture: Projects to Inspire Wellness and care
• Play: Projects to Inspire Imagination and Growth
• Seek: Projects to Inspire Adventure and Exploration
• Retreat: Projects to Inspire Calm and peace

There are things I like in each section; I fully intend to finally make a word banner, for example, and we have a definite need for the 'Beach Blanket To Go' and the repurposed towel rugs for the bathroom, but it really isn't the projects that I love about this book, which is odd, considering it is a craft book, but the sentiments behind them.

The book is punctuated by Amanda's musings on family, creative and home life, and I enjoyed these most of all. The small tips she shares within these sections I also found more inspiring than the projects themselves, but I did enjoy reading about each project and how she came to make each one.

Her talk of the stories behind old things, either thrifted or handed down to her within her own family, speaks to me in the nicest way. Her passion for breathing new life into the old, how she has adapted the old adage 'waste not, want not', and her conscious efforts to reduce her footprint on the earth, all made me eager for more.

The focus on family and showing love within it is pure and honest - just as love should be. The use of 'home' and 'family' in this book is totally interchangeable, I think. Home is where the heart is (except in the case of her cute 'Family Heart' which can be carried along with an intrepid traveller when they are away from home).

One of her tips, more like a side note within a piece of writing entitled 'Comfortably Worn', about how she likes to fill her home with old things, was on 'Patchwork Furniture', a tiny paragraph about patching up old & beloved chairs as they need it, was the inspiration for my latest (as yet unfinished - blasted thing!!) Work In Progress. Another of these little snippets was about how her family has a 'healing basket' which is where the family head when they are sick, tired or out-of-sorts, for some comfort, filled with necessities to make one feel a little better, "...a first aid kit, without the medicine..." an idea I am definitely going to adapt.

As the book is predominately aimed at new crafters, she has included information on repurposing fabrics (the whys and wherefores), where to find vintage fabrics (I don't know if I like that - they're all mine I tell you - ALL MINE!) and setting yourself up to start sewing - all super handy if you're a novice.

All in all, Handmade Home is an inspiring, even nourishing, book. If you are new neither to sewing or repurposing, you will find food for the soul (...or soule... sorry, I couldn't resist...) in this book, it is heartwarming and interesting. After thoroughly reading through it, I found my mind alive with ideas, sparked by something Amanda had written or kicked off by a simpler project - that in itself, the inspiration to think more creatively, or more importantly, live more creatively, is worth the cover price alone (...or it would be, hehe, if I had bought it...!).

I recommend it to Mamas most of all - it might even make you a bit teary - we're a breed prone to that sort of thing - but it will also make you look at your home with fresh eyes, and fresh ideas.