WOW 2018 begins!

It's WOW 2018 week, amongst other events. We'll be in Wellington for Matt's very special birthday on Thursday, so seeing as I couldn't really take my present for him over to give him, I decided to cook him a nice meal and present it to him this weekend. I'm not sure what made me decide on this idea - but what else do you give a man who has everything he needs? And how best to show your  love for someone? By spending time making a special gift. I chose this photo taken (by ButterCream Portaiture)  at our wedding (three years ago this week) as I thought it was already a good strong composition to work from. After several attempts of gridding up, I finally worked out how to begin.....

I was so glad it was a surprise - I thought he might have twigged. It was a struggle sometimes to come up with something when he asked me what I'd done with my day...

It's been a really interesting experience. 

He also gets this very blingy, very low-cut shirt to wear!

Right now, I should be packing for WOW, so I'll make this brief. Here is my outfit of 2-way sequins on velvet for awards night - with matching hair clips in my braided mohawk, and below, behold the pink velvet coat with matching thigh high boots. This was a dressing gown from an op-shop I just found the other day in my mending basket - the exact same colour as the boots. I added a collar in Chinese-style brocade, and found a frog closure in the stash - also the exact same colour! This is going to be one incredible outfit!

 OK, gotta go pack! See you soon, my WOW family!

A Seaside Holiday

Don't fret, my fabric friends - I will not divert too much from my textile theme here, as all my holidays photos, as usual, are plant life and the odd critter - inspirational material. I enjoyed some brisk walks, and some absolute dawdles around the rock-pools discovering and admiring these treasures.

The absolute standout for me was this fabulous sea slug - I have never seen anything more fabulous! In the same pool we saw a cuttlefish which had been trapped by the tide - another first. It was a magnificent morning! 

It's been very hard to come home and leave this. Sigh.......

The Svenja Bus

For those of you who remember the ‘90’s, you may remember this catchy number, which became a bit of a theme song for the Svenja Bus! One of my favourite memories is of leaving Eagle Farm Tafe (or whatever they were calling it then – TAFE like a good name change) pulling up to my classmates at the bustop, opening the door, and asking who wanted a lift to the pub! Those were the days! Here's a couple of pics with both Storm and I in our original condition - leaving home to go and live on Mt Tambourine, down at Byron Bay with my TAFE mates April and Heidi - where are you now, girls? - and in the line-up at Stokers Siding.

Storm is finally getting his makeover, and having him move up here and into Matt’s shed after losing the off-site storage has been a real bonus for getting me motivated – he’s right there! Last month I got the bumpers, wheels and roof painted, then it has taken me most of this week to mask it in reverse – I’ve never been good at wrapping presents, and this is the trickiest one yet! I bought a new 50m roll tape yesterday and finished it off this morning.

 As I was doing a final sand on a door, a small chunk of bog lifted out! GAH! I’d been out there since 5:30 getting prepared, and this threatened to stuff up the whole job – I only had my awesome assistant Matt for a few hours, and had to worry about the wind picking up as well. At first I was tragic – it was all over – but then realised I could just leave that door out, as I would have plenty of paint left for another session. Back to plan A, and finished by 10.  Not too bad – a little ‘orange peel’ – and a few repairs highlighted by the fresh coat – it’s all a learning experience. Luckily, I had planned for my inexperience by creating this design, which should hide most of the flaws.

I can't wait to be back out in this beast!! Watch out!