Have a Bonza Day

Bonza

What can I say, I not only fell in love with the faux fur and printed material, I fall head over heels for Bonza.  As my dad would say, "What a bonza bloke".  But Bonza is a she and she lives up to her reputation; just a feel happy creature with not one scary bit of fibre filling in her body.

I was out walking today and stumbled across

Winter In Melbourne - Australia

Mali My Elephant

As cute as cute could be

Mali is a recent addition to my plush toy range and I named her after the baby elephant born at the Melbourne Zoo Australia. The real Mali is 12 mths old, extremely cute and cheeky, a real delight to watch and doesn't she love the attention. She has a new family member now, a baby boy called Ongard - so she's got some competition.

I took this photo of Mali, her mum Dokkoon and aunties when she was only a few months old. One of the aunties was pregnant with Ongard at the time of this photo.

Come and Play - Stuffed Pine Cones

I made this padded pine cone the other day, I remember making something like this as a kid at school.  I just wanted to sit and play, so this is what I did.

The finished result

You need a pine cone that's a bit old with lots of open claws.

 This is how I did it

Scraps of material, needle, thread, scissors and wadding, or you could be just a little bit fancy and put potpourri into each circle.
Now that's not a bad idea!!

Cut enough circles to fill the pine cone

Sew a running thread around the circle

Add some wadding or pot pourri if you prefer

Gather up the running thread and secure to make a little ball

Push the balls in tight and move or break the pine claws to make more room

You're done, a bunch of these in a basket look great, small ones make great christmas decorations and it took less than hour, but hey it might keep the kids quiet if you put them to the task

Chocolate Anyone?

I'm constantly amazed at the strange containers I collect to hold all my precious bits and pieces.  This is an old Cadbury Chocolate box, have no idea how old.  A hand me down from my mother-in-law.  She has so many of this kind of stuff around her place and when she asked me if I could use it, well it's a silly question really. I love it.

Washing Day - Hanging it out to dry!

"Give me the inspiration to be what I was before I became all the other things I’ve been"  (Chris Kemp 2011)

It’s time to talk about why I want to be a blogger.  I can say it’s not because I want to share how many latte’s I drink a day, or how the dog ate my recent post.  Nope, none of that rubbish.  If that were the case I’d have lost any readers 10 seconds ago, in fact I’d have lost me.  Since I have no followers and that’s because my blog is still an infant, I’m going to interview myself - because I can.

Me:        Christine, tell my why you decided to start a blog?

Me:        I did everything back to front and the blog morphed because I created a website about a passion of mine which is CRAFT, because I needed to do something to keep my brain active.  The website came about because some wonderful American salesman named Jess; convinced me that his company’s website tools and training would make me money within a week.

Me:        Would you say you are gullible?

Me:        Yes and No.  Firstly I’m currently unemployed; I had a lot of self-doubt and no confidence because of that situation.  Money was not the motivator.  I new I could bring some really savvy IT skills to the table.  So, whilst Jess conned me with his excellent sales pitch, the spin was actually what I wanted to do.

Me:        You said you did everything ‘back to front’.  Can you tell us what you mean by that?

Me:        In the real world the craft comes first.  A person has one or two areas of craftsmanship that they work at with flair and passion.  This produces a product which they then have the option to sell, teach, give away or promote in a way that pleases them.  In this day and age, the web is a crafters paradise.  A blog can promote them and their product if they wish, they can give it away or sell it or display their work how they like.  They develop a following over time.  This often leads to a website, which can lead to an on-line business.  I started with the website, then a blog and embarrassingly I’m still looking for the craft to go with it and the followers.  I’m the horse chasing the cart.

Me:        Is there a great disadvantage in what you’ve done?

Me:        Yes.  Apart from wasting time, I’m missing opportunities.

Me:        If you could do it all again, what would you do?

Me:        That’s an interesting question.  I’m a square peg person trying to fit into a round hole.  I would do it all again exactly the same because that’s my personality type.  If I’d done it in the order that I perceive everyone else does it (and my research suggests they do), then I would never have continued with the project.  It would have been too easy for me to say “This is all too hard”.  But I’d make Jess work harder on his sales pitch, just because.

Me:        Can you share with your audience (LOL) what your area of craft expertise will be in the future?

Me:        No, but stayed tuned.

Me:        Well, Christine that was an enjoyable interview and I would like to thank you for your time.  Naturally we at Golden Lilly Crafts wish you all the best in your endeavours and look forward to a follow up interview in the months to come.  Hopefully, you can find a way to get that damn horse in front of the cart!!

Me:        Not sure how the horse and cart thingy will work out but yup, I think I'm ready to bring the washing in from the line.  Look forward to your follow up interview.