Melly & me

Another day of Bliss

Today was another opportunity to get together with my sister Floss and the little Floss' for sewing fun and mayhem.  Melly made a possum called "Possum o' Possum" which I keep insisting is really a monkey who thinks he's a possum.

At one stage Melly and I were at the ironing board and turned around to witness Baby Floss intent on sewing her own flossie.

Of course when she was "discouraged" from playing with Mummy's sewing machine after the "photo opportunity" she cracked it (Aussie term for not amused!) and we had half an hour of wailing.

I spent the time making a gorgeous version of our "Keiko" bag which Melly won't let me show you because she said we need to keep the surprise for our swap partner in Ohio.  Have taken a photo and will show you all later.  I used a thrifted linen shirt and some beautiful Japanese linen to create the bag.  As I was cutting off the cuffs, I decided that we could turn them into the "Magic Cuffs of Creative Powers" to keep our crafting mojo flowing.  We are going to embellish them to make them really magical but here is a photo of what helped us today.  Until next time, dear bloggers, May the floss be with you! - Rosie

Time for rest

I have officially dubbed today "a day of rest" for me and my poor overworked sewing machine.  I have been working on one project or another every day for what seems like an eternity but have decided I need to kick the habit for one day and just have some R & R.  I have posted two pics of some of the work Rosie and I have been doing over the past few days - Christmas trees are due up this week so no more time for delay in getting some decos finished.  I have also worked on a Fishy Flossie for our new swap partner in the USA (cannot be revealed on this blog until she has received it to save the surprise - so watch this space!) and some very cute cushions for my home.  But for today I am going to enjoy some time outdoors in the sun with a good book (it is such a glorious day) and I think that series one boxset of Grey's Anatomy that Rosie let me borrow will get a good watching.  I hope you all find some time to rest today too!  I also wanted to thank you all for your comments and emails - we get a real lift from your feedback and are really appreciative of all your thoughts and ideas. - Melly

Time for the exterminator!

Well, the bug theme has continued and we have two more critters to introduce.  Fat Butterfly and "Does my butt look big in this?" Bumble Bee.

Rosie's butterfly turned out fat because she based it on my templates for Mad Mozzie.  She thought the templates were stitch on the traced line but they had a seam allowance included! She thinks he looks a bit "Austin Powers".  I adapted the Mozzie pattern today to create a bee but did not get the desired outcome.  It was only after she was made that she was given her name.  I think we will give insects a rest for a while, or else it may be time for the exterminator!

I'm back!

At the risk of being in very poor taste, Here are the photos of where I have been.

As you can see, I had chaperones! 

I tried to talk them into taking my place but they wouldn't hear of it!! I wonder if anyone else going through this stuff finds humour everywhere? I really do laugh at the most inappropriate things.... I think I may need a psych assessment when it is all over.  Anyway, we are all going back again on the 5th of December, Melly, myself, my better third ( i'm a bit larger than i used to be), silly bunny, silly bunny, crazy kitty, mad mozzie and the yet to be seen fat butterfly. This time we will bring party hats and lolly bags as it will be the last time! By the way, we also had a very good excursion to the "make poverty history" concert at the Myer music bowl! Highlight of course being Bono, the edge and pearl jam singing "Rocking in the free world" I almost felt young again! What a night!

We also received our swap from salvagesistas today. I drove straight round to Melly's to open it. We are so happy with our lovely things. They made us wonderful, funky jewellery and really cute cupcake pin cushions. They gave us hello kitty chopsticks and a pencil case and lots of yummy goodies. We are so lucky! - Rosie.

Could you cuddle this fella?

I decided yesterday I NEEDED to make another flossie -I then started thinking about what type of flossie to make - there are all the standards: Birdie, Doggie, Bunny, Kitty and a multitude of other cute and cuddly animals but what about the poor neglected insect world??  So the challenge I gave myself was to make a creature we despise into something you want to cuddle.  So with no further lead up - here is MAD MOZZIE.  I would like your opinion - could you cuddle this fella?  - Melly.

Finally some work!!

Well today was the day to finally stop playing and start doing some work!  All of my sewing over the past few weeks has been "just coz I want to" sewing and I keep feeling the self-imposed pressure to design some more patterns for Melly & me.  So today was the day - and the thing I forgot is just how much fun I have designing and making a new creation that I really love.  That's what happened - I have created a new handbag that I think is adorable and now I feel that sweet feeling of satisfaction.  Of course I still have to write the pattern and I'm sure I'll leave that too long also.  The best part is now I can excuse myself to do more "just coz" sewing - in fact I feel a flossie (softie) brewing!!  Here is a peek at the new creation. - Melly

Drowned rats

We have just returned like drowned rats from op-shop (thrift) shopping.  The much needed rain is bucketing down today and I think we may have resembled the 3 stooges in our attempt to get into the car after hours of browsing and bargain hunting. We had arms bundled with goodies a baby and a pre-schooler all getting completely saturated, lost car keys (which, yes, I have to admit ended up being found in my other hand!!) a run away stroller which ran into a driving car which resulted in unstrapped baby floss nearly falling out of the car while I ran after the offending stroller - do I need to say more?  But was it worth it? - YES!!!! I have photographed a couple of our finds.  Rosie found this fabulous vintage Woman's Day handicraft book which we will examine in detail over the next few days, I couldn't resist the vintage Boy's Annual and we got bundles of linen shirts for recycled fabric (I have cut out a few samples for you to see!)  Now I must go dry myself off in front of the fire. - Melly

The five F's

As some of you know, I have had a bit of a yucky year with finding out that I have breast cancer at 36 years old. It has been a bit of a difficult time as sometimes the treatment seems worse than the disease! I have learned heaps though and have categorised the most important things in my life into the five F's. These are Family, Friends, Faith, Fun and Fabric! When something yucky happens to your health, the important things become highlighted and other stuff seems to become irrelevant. One of the things my precious sister Melly and I have done for fun is join Gimme Your Stuff and organised to swap fun stuff with some girls in Singapore. We have just finished wrapping all the presents in pretty paper (see photo below). We will send the package in a little while. We are so excited that some people are doing the same for us. There is nothing like getting a surprise parcel full of goodies in the mail. Can't wait! Another thing we have done for fun and distraction is this blog. We have laughed so much making adorable, silly toys and reading other peoples blogs and sharing their lives. If you are blessed enough to have the five F's in your life, cherish them as they are so beautiful! - Rosie

Crazy Kitty

After Rosie came over yesterday with her absolutely adorable Silly Bunny and Silly Bunny I was inspired to try my hand at designing and making my first ever flossie (Softie)  Meet Crazy Kitty!  I think she is a little too crazy but Rosie laughed and laughed when she saw her - I think it was good laughter??!!  Back to the drawing board or is she a success?  Maybe I'll never know.  - Melly

Silly Bunnies

After blogging all day we thought we'd try our hand at some flossies (softies).  We'd like to introduce you to Silly Bunny and Silly Bunny.

They were VERY well received......

Baby Floss (Melly's daughter/Rosie's niece) loved them!!!