Crazy Patchwork with an Ocean theme

Today I unearthed an old stitching project. I think back .. and it must have been nine years or more when I was so enthused with Crazy Patchwork.

I loved working on this block at the time, playing with colours, imagining the ocean floor and what I could add to bring it to life. Sadly it is still ‘just a block’ and I'm still not sure what it could've potentially turned into.

I’m glad though that I could resurrect it and share here. Embroidery used to be one of my passions; I’m not sure how it got away from me! Maybe “one-day” I can pick it up again.
If you enjoy stitching, patchwork and embroidery; all those things can be rolled into one by creating a Crazy Patchwork block with a theme of your own.

Further reading on Crazy Patchwork in this Helium article I've written: How to Make a Crazy Patchwork Block with a Theme.

Kookaburra in our Garden

I could hardly pass on sharing some pics of one of the kookaburras that frequent our garden every now and then. This morning we saw him fossicking in the garden for a bit, and then he flew around the house and sat on the retainer wall there.

We watched him from the window nearby as he stretched his wing and fluffed up to soak up some morning sunshine (thought no-one was watching!) Perfect moment for Des to go get the camera .. and these photos were taken from our side of the window too.







Turning back time now, with a search through my archived photos, I'm going to add a couple more pics with a kookaburra. These were taken November '04 when we would hand feed them (not anymore though).

We had just returned from a bush-walk and found that a kooka' was sitting and waiting out the back for feed-time. I tipped off my sun-hat and stepped out; this explains my "hat-head" profile, so you can stop laughing.

I wanted to show you how trusting a bird can become, if it means food.

Paper Cutting: Willows in the Garden

I've been head down, butt up working with this Dover design since my last paper-cutting post. I loved the movement in the willow trees surrounding the pedestal and YES, it was very fiddly to cut.

Once I've gotten so far into a paper-cut though, there's no backing out. Why give up on the hard yards? The end is always in sight, and with it comes the satisfaction of seeing those hours evolve into a rather special paper portrayal of something that you just had to try your hand at.

I did deliberate whether to back with white or not, but decided the sage colouring married up nicely.

Paper Cutting: Valentine

Yes I know it's a long time since Valentine's day, but anytime is good enough to cut a new design that takes your fancy.

From Ellen Brown's collection under the Valentines theme, this is Valentine with Fringe. I loved the bunnies under the tree and the birds etc. Ellen has a great selection of intricate Valentine designs with a vintage feel. There's many more there I want to try.

Thanks again to Ellen for sharing great designs for personal use, through her Paper Cutting Designs site.

Australian Native Flowers

Today we visited the annual Flora Festival at Kariong, on the Central Coast of N.S.W. It's a place we love to visit each year for the fabulous floral displays; such a feast for the eyes.

Sharing with you some of our beautiful native flowers. Since many of my readers are from other countries, I'm sure you will enjoy seeing these, almost ... up close and personal.


The large pink flower to the left and bottom right, is the floral emblem for our state of New South Wales, and it's the Waratah. The most commonly recognised Waratah colour though is a deep, dark red. This beautiful soft pink is a hybridized variety. The little five petalled tiny white to soft pink flower is Geraldton Wax, a native of Western Australia.


These are all from the fabulous Banksia family; aren't they just magnificent?



More Banksias, and a stunning gumblossom on the left.

Paper Cutting: Something Fishy

Something Fishy is one of the many 'waterlife' designs by Ellen Brown.

I decided to cut a curvy frame to add to the underwater theme. More may happen with Something Fishy yet; perhaps some 3-D kelp behind it and pasted onto a soft blue background cardstock.

Papercutting: Sailing

Today's papercut is another designed by Ellen Brown. You can learn more of Ellen Brown, the sculptor and paper-cutter, and also access her many wonderful designs offered from this site.

Categories are included for animals, birds, cats, dogs, flowers, shields, insects, landscape, mythic, people, trees, valentines and waterlife.

If you're keen to try some paper-cutting for yourself, and looking for new design ideas for personal use, be sure to see what Ellen Brown has to offer.

Paper Cutting: Ring of Pineapples

Ring of Pineapples, proved to be an intricate paper cutting. "Finishing off" involved a lot of extra tiny cuts to remove the weeny triangles within each pineapple.

I love the lace look and being able to replicate a crochet doiley design on paper. This pattern is one I was keen to try and it’s from a Backstreet Designs publication, titled Scherenschnitte Pineapple Doilies.

Noted: The proper pronunciation of this word is “shear’ en-schnit-tah”.