Stitching felt tiaras

My favourite thing to do is sit and stitch running stitch through felt. It is satisfying and soothing. If I am feeling blue and I need a pick me up, this is one of my go to things to do. Of course, I need a plan of what to make. And it helps if it is already cut out. And I have the right colour cottons. And have the concentration skills to sit and do it. Basically, I need everything to line up and it's a great thing to distract me from blueness...

The sense of achievement once I have stitched the pieces together to create a thing is really something though. I like to turn it over and study my stitch length and make sure I have done a good job. My house probably looks like a cyclone has just gone through. And I may not have decided what to make for dinner and it's past six o'clock. But if I have spent time stitching, I am doing okay. 

It's not just felt tiaras that make me feel like this, though these were fun to make. Matching colours for the tiara and the flowers and hearts out of my felt collection is a great way to pass time too. Felt is one of my happy places.

So a lot has been going on...

...and I have been absent. I am determined to find my life again so I am trying to blog again. Blogging was a good thing for me when I was here a long time ago.

Since I've been gone, we were involved in a campaign to get a life saving drug added to the PBS in Australia. It was to benefit a small percentage of people with Cystic Fibrosis. People with the right gene type. Amelia is one of these people. After over 2 years of campaigning with some awesome people in the Cystic Fibrosis community in Australia, WE GOT IT!

Amelia started on Kalydeco almost a year ago to the day. We had hoped it would cut her medication intake dramatically. This hasn't happened but it has made a huge impact on her health. And we are confident that her health will continue to improve while using Kalydeco and as new therapy's and drug's become available.

A lot of other life has been happening too. Regular stuff. Good stuff and bad stuff. Probably the most notable of all the stuff or perhaps the thing that has clouded every other thing that has been happening in our family's life is depression. Mine to be exact.

I didn't want to come here to blog because it felt like that is all that was going on. Billowing dark clouds of depression. And a few clouds of anxiety thrown in for good measure. I have struggled for quite a few years now but the last 2 have been the most challenging. The plastic smiles only go so far.

I have dragged myself through so many days. And I have tried my best to keep the depression from everyone I know. I have let a few people know. There is a stinging stigma with mental illness though. I don't know whether to make it known or not. And as much as the hashtagging of ending the stigma may be shared on social media, when it is your own walk, it's harder to be honest. That's how I have felt anyway.

So for better or worse, I am saying it here. I have depression. Sometimes things are okay. Sometimes they are not. I have piles of emotional baggage that I am dragging around and I am done hiding from it.

Here is my plan. Mid-Craft Crisis will continue as that. I will talk mid craft and crisis. I would much rather talk about my crafting attempts than depression. This is always going to be a crafty blog but I am also going to start talking about real stuff. Not fake. Because I have less energy for fake than I ever have. And maybe I can turn this hideous depression journey into something useful.

I have been quietly making and creating while in my time away from here so I want to get back to taking pictures of pretty things and sharing my makings. So to get started, here is a bunch of pin cushions I made recently for a market stall I was involved in. That can be another post. 

And until I get back again, be kind to yourself. I am trying to learn that. 

Dish cloth swap

After seeing Mel from One Crafty Mumma was hosting a crochet and knit dish cloth swap, I thought I would take my new crochet skills out for a spin. I signed up. I took too long to finish them for the first round swap so I worked to get them done for the second swap. Phew! Just in time.

I was so proud of myself for making this, I really wanted to keep it. The first dish cloth is made with 100% cotton I found at Spotlight. It is a mixture of a grey 4 ply ball and variegated greens and grey 4 ply ball.

I searched for 100% cotton that was 8 ply in town but 4 ply was the biggest I could find. I am embarrassed to say that I drive past the turn off to Bendigo Woollen Mills whenever we head into town and it never occurred to me to check for yarn there.



The top 2 dish cloths are made to this pattern.



This small square one confused me to start with. I got my stitches mixed up and ended up making one that was rectangle shaped. I decided to finish it off and use it at home. Sort of a happy accident. You can find the pattern for this one here.



This one didn't quite go to plan either. I guess I am still getting all these stitches figured out. This was supposed to have more ridges but I didn't put the crochet hook in the right place and this is what I ended up with. I like the colour blocking on this. The pattern for this can be found here. Looks like the pattern for this one is now only available for purchase.

I wish happy cleaning to the people who get my crocheting in the swap. :-)
I am excited to see what arrives in the post for me.

Crochet stars

I have this idea in my head of having beautiful handmade Christmas decorations for the tree this year. Or cute gift tags that include a little crochet star.

I don't know if it will happen but these stars come together in a tiny chunk of time (maybe 10 minutes). They are handy to have for car trips and filling a little bit of time while dinner is cooking at night. I also took them when I visited with my parents recently. We sat and chatted and I crocheted.

I would love to turn them into a garland. They might just end up not finished off properly and tied to the tree :-)

If you want to make some the pattern is here.

Felt Wreath for Christmas

I have been determined to not let Christmas sneak up on me this year. I know. It shouts it's coming from around September when the decorations start showing up in the shops. My plan has been to start making, buying and preparing for Christmas early this year. Well, earlier.

This wreath was super easy to make. I haven't decided what to embellish it with though, if anything. I really like it like this actually. I followed the tutorial here.

In a fit of decluttering at the start of the year I went through our Christmas decorations and donated a lot of the ones we had because I didn't like them much and was determined to make some. Christmas is almost upon us and I haven't made any. Looks like things will have to get busy in our house in the next month!

It's getting warmer

When the weather warms up here, we start to see creatures around the yard. This little guy was just out near the back deck.

There is an old wives' tale that if you have lizards around, you won't have snakes. I wish it was true.

Summer is coming.

Crochet, I have conquered.

One of my goals in life has been to learn to crochet. I have tried a few times before but I haven't really ever "got it". After a friend shared a link on facebook about crochet lessons happening in town, I jumped at the chance.

This granny square was the result from my first 2 hour lesson. And I could read the pattern. I felt so clever. I also learnt that day that wearing my glasses for crocheting is very important. Migraines come from not wearing them :-(



My 2nd lesson, with glasses on, I achieved an African Flower (a little wonky but hey I'm a beginner). I was supposed to make 2 and put them together to make a potholder. Confession. I left it mid-craft because I wanted to move on to more exciting things. Typical me.

The 3rd lesson was how to make a Christmas decoration. It was quick to make the two sides but we ran out of time to do the edging and I had to figure that one out on my own.



It is supposed to have six points and then I can sew the little bells onto each point. Straight forward? I have already pulled out the edge quite a few times and when I start it again, it comes out differently each time. I am pretty close to leaving it as a circle ornament and not a star.

There you have it. I am glad I took the classes. I tried following lessons online but for me it was too hard to set aside the time to do it. It was easier to book into classes and then have to go. I feel like I can have a go at most basic patterns now though. And it was fun hanging out with like minded crafty people.

My crochet skills will take more practice of course. And now that it is coming into summer, I doubt I will feel as keen to work on it. I really want to try making some baby blankets but with my track record, it probably wouldn't be a good idea :-)

James the (toy) echidna

Echidna Day passed with very little fuss this year. I wanted to bake a traditional chocolate 'spikey' cake but it didn't happen. In fact, aside from the 3 girls making echidna's from sticks and air drying clay we hardly marked the occasion at all.

We did, however, have James the (toy) echidna, wandering the house. I love him. We get him out of his box as Echidna Day approaches and he just sort of ... shows up... around the house. People pick him up and pat him while watching TV. The kids play games with him. He travels to the girls bedrooms and sits on the couch watching telly when the kids have left him to it. He often startles me as I walk through the house at night to check the kids before I go to bed.  And do you know what? It makes me happy. I look forward to have James visit with us.



I wanted Echidna Day to become a celebration of our blessings. Australia doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving. This is our version. Give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18a). We have plenty of circumstances going on that we could easily not give thanks for. You know what though? I am thankful. We have a great, beautiful and messy life. Thank you God for all the blessings you have given our family. And thank you for being our soft landing place when the circumstances start to get the better of us.

Spare time?

I have been misled.

I thought I was supposed to have more time on my hands and not know what to do with myself now that all 3 of our kids are at school. It doesn't seem to be working out that way. *sigh*

I think I need some kind of brain to blog transfer system. I have written some fabulous posts in my head and then never seem to have the time or inclination to type them up.

So much has been going on it would be silly of me to try and catch you up. Well, not silly... just really hard to do.

I have managed some making. I squeeze in a little here and there. Earlier in the year I was making a bunch of stuff for a Mother's Day stall at school. Then some more making for a market at school.

And I started crocheting classes. YAY! I have been wanting to learn how to crochet since starting this blog ... And I have even attempted it a couple of times. A friend tipped me off to a lovely lady in town who was giving lessons so I jumped in and took a couple of classes. Precious "me" time and learning a new skill at the same time. It was so fun! I got to sit around with like minded people and chat about crafty things. I loved it. So much so that I am going back to learn how to make some crochet Christmas decorations.

... Sorry. Did I startle you by saying Christmas out loud? The decorations are out in the shops already so I know you must have noticed that it is coming again. How on earth did that happen!

I am hoping to make a bunch of crocheted stuff for Christmas this year. Of course, my skill and speed may hold me back. I have a list of things I want to make. Perhaps I will set some smaller goals.

I was going to finish off this post by adding a photo but apparently my new laptop doesn't feel like it. I have no idea why it doesn't want to do it so let's pretend there is a lovely picture here of a crocheted dishcloth I made last week. Perhaps I can put up the real picture at some stage. :-)

A little bit of awesome

I haven't blogged for so long. I was actually worried that I would forget my password and Mid-Craft Crisis would be destined to live the rest of its days unfinished. Mid-Craft you might say :-)

I had a go tonight at fiddling around with the header on my blog and finally (!) got the picture up that I wanted to put there forever ago. And I even worked out how to align the title to the right!

Boring news to you maybe but I am all high-5s and patting myself on the back. I have finally done something to my blog and there is some inspiration coming back. It would be lovely to come out from under the rock I have been under and come to play here again.

Hope so.

A belated Happy Resurrection Day

Happy Easter to you all.

I was going to do some blogging about Easter but that hasn't happened. In truth, we haven't done much in the way of Easter crafting this year. The last couple of weeks have been full of action here at home so the fun creative stuff ends up last on the list of things to do.

We did manage to discuss the Easter story quite a bit which is good as the kids are all getting a bit older and able to understand more than they have before. I found a blog that had all kinds of wonderful and thought provoking activities for Easter. I will definitely keep that book marked for next year. We did this activity to remind us of why Jesus died on the cross.

Other than that we spent the weekend with family and friends. Oh yes, and there was the torchlight procession in town on Saturday night. The fire fighters from our town had a float in the procession and so we all were involved in that. Very long night but lots of fun.

School holidays are here for 2 weeks which will be good. I am going to try to keep positive and try to focus on having fun with the family these holidays. So often I get caught up in what hasn't been done instead of getting on and doing things!

How was your Easter?

I still have Christmas CDs in the car but you'll be happy to know I did manage to get an Easter CD as well. Here is my favourite song from the CD... except this video is performed by someone else... This one has a spoken word piece in it too (which I like too).

After Christmas, comes Easter

I am so tired. Being sleep deprived is a pass time for me. Lately, I get up and get the kids to school and then I come home only to find myself falling asleep again. The other day I sat down to write a list and fell asleep.

Confession 1: I only just took this banner I made before Christmas, down a couple of weeks ago. I had all our other Christmas decorations packed up in the days after Christmas day, but this stayed up. I was too lazy to get a chair to stand on so I could reach it. I liked it up though. It was going to be the whole first verse of the carol but that actually took a really long time to make so I just did the first line. It was also still up because since renovating, I haven't put up any pictures and so it was a nice wall decoration.

Now that it is down, the wall above the TV looks boring. I am starting to get photos printed and finding the right frames because I want a photo gallery wall up there. If only these things would work out easily and be done so I could already be enjoying it. :-) All in good time.

So Easter is nearly here. How did that happen? Confession 2: I still have 3 Christmas CDs on rotation in my car. What? I really like Christmas carols and music. Actually, this is pretty bad for me. Half way through February is late for me. So I am at a new personal best. Ha!

Easter. I had planned to have the house a bit Easter-y but that hasn't happened so far. I got the Easter basket out of the cupboard but the kids just spread it all over the floor and house. And not in a way that could be described as decorating!

I have been doing bits and pieces of crafting lately but I haven't got as far as to take pictures. I will try to do that before the school holidays start again. I am not remotely ready for them to be so close!

I will leave you with my current favourite song. A Christmas one of course.

Felt toes

My first project for 2013. Some felt toes. Well... they are more like, um... claws. I will share more pictures when I get closer to finished :-) Any guesses who this might belong to?

Starting school 2013 (aka My year with "so much time on my hands")

Well this is a great beginning to the year, isn't it? It's already half way through February and I am only here for the second time. Oh well. Even if I only post once a month this year, I am probably doing better than last year. :-)

Esther and Ellamay started Grade 3 at the end of January. And Amelia started Grade Prep the day after. So the photo above is Amelia's first day but Esther and Ellamay's second. Doesn't Amelia look pleased with herself? Esther and Ellamay were insisting I hurry up and take the picture before their friends came along.

I must admit, it is strange not having any kids left at home during the day. I didn't cry when I left my littlest girl at school. I thought I would. It has been a bit of a ride so far though. After two and half weeks at school, I have had two phone calls in two days to come in and pick Amelia up. She has been having tummy troubles again. *sigh*.

The teachers have been fantastic after their crash course in Cystic Fibrosis (CF). It has only been since I have had to go through all the things they need to be aware of, that I have realised that I have a lot of stuff to remember and do each day. I guess I should be a little easier on myself for having the peaks of Mount Laundry sitting in our bedroom waiting to be folded and the mountain ranges of Unclean Laundry still waiting to be washed.

The most favoured question people ask when they find out that your youngest child is off to school is: "What are you going to do with all that time on your hands?" I thought up a list of responses because, you know, I was going to have all this time on my hands. I am not sure when that will kick in. It hasn't yet. Maybe once there is some kind of routine? I live in hope :-)

One of my plans for the year "with so much time on my hands", is to work on my inner (and outer) domestic goddess. In theory, between school times I should be able to have a tidy (ish) house, bake up a storm and enjoy a little "me time" (another phrase people have been throwing around!).

Okay. So I am still in survival mode. One day though... :-)

I finally had a go at changing my blog a little. Not sure if it will stay this way but it is another thing to work on in my abundance of spare time now :-)

Day One: 2013

Welcome 2013. I am looking forward to you.

There are so many things that I want to achieve in 2013 that just didn't happen in 2012. Like blogging. And making pretty things.

It is going to be a big year for me. Not only do Esther and Ellamay start grade 3 but Amelia is starting school. Grade Prep. I will be child free for school hours and I am looking forward to it. I will be a little lost for a couple of weeks probably. Prep kids get to have each Wednesday off as a rest day in the first month of school so that will make the transition for both Mum and Amelia a little easier.

This year, I am going to be more realistic with what I can achieve. I will get back to blogging and making. I will make a schedule that includes time for both, along side the rest of life. I will be busy sometimes but that is okay because there are times when that is life. I will tell myself I am doing okay even if I am having trouble believing it.

We are still renovating our house, so there will be more stories about that. Hopefully, it won't be quite as consuming as it has been. We have finished the kitchen, dining and lounge rooms now so everything else should be on a smaller scale - one room at a time (hopefully).

Looks like my previous years resolutions will continue to be goals. One of these years I will achieve some of them. :-)

I have already finished one project for 2013. That is pretty amazing. I will have to remember how to use my camera so I can share pictures. :-)

2012 had a total of 11 posts. I do hope 2013 has a few more than that.

God arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. Psalm 18:32

Happy New Year.

Happy Christmas

I love a flash mob video. This one is fantastic. Enjoy.

Have a fantastic Christmas. Stay safe and enjoy your time with family and friends. And remember the greatest gift ever given, the Rescuer who came as a baby and saves us from our sins, if we will just ask.

Making all things new

Hi. I wanted to drop by and let you know that I am still here. I hope to make a return to regular blogging in 2013. Amelia will be starting school then and I will have more child free hours in the day. It is my hope to turn those hours into productive and efficient times of utter domestic goddessness - HA! I can dream.

Anyway, this year has been full of house renovations and lots of driving. Amelia has been at kinder and Esther and Ellamay at school, it seems all I have done is drive.

We now have a new kitchen and laundry. The renovations continue as we try to finish off bits and pieces. We have been making all things new. Changing so many things has been hard work and the kids have had trouble adjusting. Especially since so much time has been spent falling over boxes and tools. I can't wait to find some kind of normal again.

I have painted until I can't paint any more. We are doing most of the work ourselves which means it takes longer and we are limited in our times to work... mostly when the kids haven't been home or if we can manage to be awake after they go to sleep.

It is looking wonderful though and it has made such a good change to our daily lives. Maybe when I get back next year, I will be able to show you some pictures.



I really haven't even been in what you could call Mid Craft because the closest I've been to crafty for a long time is pinning crafts onto my Pintrest boards. And I must agree with the line going around, Pintrest is electronic hoarding. But what fun it is!

I actually managed to catch up on my google reader finally so there is hope that I might get back to this part of my world :-) In the mean time, I hope you are all well and being craftier than I.

Have a wonderful and safe Christmas and I will see you in the new year.

Amelia's new room

Amelia's room has been finished for a while now, and by finished I mean close to done. I would still like to get some kind of shadow box/display boxes for the wall in her room as well as Esther and Ellamay's.

I am really happy with how it turned out. Amelia loves it too. It took a long time to paint this room for one reason and another. Things like running out of ceiling paint in the middle of the ceiling and then finding that the new can was matt when the previous paint was gloss. The wall colour is Fresh Cut Grass by Taubmans if you are interested.

Amelia's new house for her LPS Blythe dolls. And the little cubbie under her bed.

I am always on the look out for cool stuff for the bedrooms but I don't want to hurry to clutter them up with unnecessary stuff either. About 12 months before we did the kids rooms, I had bought a bunch of stuff (on sale - of course!) that I thought would look good in their rooms when we did them. I have put that all out to be donated somewhere because it is not right for their rooms now that they are done (almost). I am trying to be a bit more careful about what comes into the house as once its in, sometimes its hard to get it out. I really wanted them to live in their rooms for a few months or more so we could see what works and what doesn't. Then we can plan how to fix it.

I'll be back another day with some more about the LPS (Littlest Pet Shop) Blythe dolls that my girls are all crazy about.



Owls

Hello. Thought I'd stop by and post something since I haven't for so long. It's been on my mind to do something... but then so have a lot of things! School holidays are drawing closer and my hope is to not have to be going this way and that quite so much. Believe it or not, amongst all the driving kids around, renovating and living, I have managed to do a few things that are just a teeny bit crafty. And true to form, most of them remain in mid-craft condition.

I had in my head before my youngest nephew was born in October last year, that I would like to make something for his arrival. That never did get finished - maybe one day. I started making a hexagon quilt. It was flawed from the beginning though. I made the hexagons too small and so it would take hundreds of the things to make what I had in mind. And sewing it all together by hand is so slow! That will possibly stay in the mid-craft pile forever.

After seeing a picture of a beautiful set of camping owls here, I decided I needed to make my own version for my nephew. I used some of the stack of wool felt I recently purchased off etsy, with great visions of making everything I had on my pintrest felt board.

What do you think of my progress?

I used the pattern from my Fa La La La Felt book and added the gusset piece so the owls would stand up. I think they look a bit blank. I need to stitch their eyes a little I think. Give them some personality. I quite like them. By the time I get them finished, my nephew will be one! (If I get on with the stitching of course!) I am going to make a tree stump house for them. It looks great in my head. Now if I can just translate that into action.

I have a few more things to share. I took a bunch of pictures recently of my mid-craftiness because I was going to write a whole lot for this blog. Still not there yet. And the blog renovation... I am a bit stuck on that too. Seems like it should be a simple enough project, but I can't for the life of me get that figured out. One day you'll stop by and see that I have finally figured it out.

See you another day.

A.W.O.L

You probably noticed my lack of commitment around here lately. I am pretty much thinking that this year is going to be a write off when it comes to achieving even things of a Mid-Craft nature.
I will be posting. It may just be a while in between. I have been in the car constantly it seems and haven't found time for much. And we have been renovating. Tehehehe... I like to say that. It is so great to be make things in our home fresh and new. I also like to say that because as soon as you mention that you are renovating, people cut you a bit of slack when it comes to getting things done :-)

So what have I been up to whilst absent without leave? I have been stitching bits and pieces. I have been getting inspired. I have mostly stopped pinning everything on Pintrest. I am trying to break that habit. For a site so full of inspiration, it has sure wiped my creativity out. There are so many pretty and clever things on there, it makes me wonder why I should start any projects anyway. Anyone else get that?

To kick start my creative juices, I am hoping to do a little blog renovation. I have been researching it and I think I am almost sorted on how to do it. I have no idea how I managed to set up my blog in the first place. Apparently, I have lost some of my tech savviness (is that a word?).

As a photo is always good on a post, here is one of our family on a recent short holiday. We are standing on top of Mount Hotham, Victoria. We hoped to see snow but there wasn't any there yet.

There you have it. I will get my camera out and start taking pictures. I will have something to say about something that I have made. I will have some Mid-Craftiness to share in the future.

See you another day.