Craft Projects

Lately, I have been considering book shelving options as I am bored with plain bookshelves where you only see the spine. I secretly found myself longing for display shelves like those we had at Kindergarten all those many years ago.

As it turns out you will always find someone who has thought the same thing for themselves and can point you to a range of answers. There were several very cool bookshelves that I came across in my search. Like the tree that was turned into paper which was then recycled to make a tree-shaped bookshelf to hold more trees which had been turned into paper.

Image source: http://designartist.cafe24.com/web/open_product/big/tree1.jpg

Then there was one bookshelf that looked somewhat normal other than the adult silhouette that would allow someone to shuffle into the shelf itself to read. I wanted to buy it just put against my living room window with a curtain that hides me in my own nook looking out across my front garden as if I was the only person in the world. It is such a great idea!

So, as I hunted it became clear that all the great ideas were used in children's bedrooms. (Apparently, we grow out of being attracted to books by their cover). The solutions that a friend pointed me towards was the use of PVC gutters as a display shelf which is kind of nifty.
Image source: http://familyfun.go.com/

So, I have now seen dozens of pictures showing them in children's play areas:

Image source: http://www.mamanotes.com/

To fitting them into shared bedrooms:

Image source: http://raisingolives.com/ - Rain Gutter Book Shelves Tutorial

But what I hope to see is one long shelf in the Master Bedroom spanning the entire wall above the top of the bed head. I have even had a look at the Philmac web site to look at what my style options are. What do you think?

So, my week at Glenormiston....

it rained. Some would say it was miserable. I, however, love the cold and rain and thought it was fantastic. It rained every day except for Sunday, the day I left to head home. And the wind, wow I forgot what *real* wind was! Blustering so hard that the rain was traveling almost horizontal coming in under the verandah to hit the sliding door at waist height.

So during the course I spent my time in the company a dozen or so other women working on their quilting with all of them more capable than me. Their motivation was either learning the finer points of the job, having extra hands to help them tack and complete big projects or simply having a week away from other responsibilities to just get projects completed. I was the 'baby' of the group and tried had not to need to wear a dunce hat as I was talked through the finer points of pieced quilting. I am now in the stage of finishing my applique work so that I can tack, quilt and finish off.

Of course, quilting was not all that was happening as part of the craft school and Wednesday night I took the chance to have a good look at other offerings. The course options included: watercolour painting, decorative painting, silk painting, crazy patchwork, felting, wool spinning, stone carving using Mount Gambier limestone and doll making just to name a few. I was blown away at the amazing level of talent held by so many people gathered in one place.

Rather than staying on campus, I stayed with a family member who lived a shockingly long 6km from the campus. I also had a child with me who I needed to shuttle to Mortlake for care which was my only excuse for not cycling to the campus each day. Oh well! Cheryl, a lady from a local church, looked after him lovingly and was an amazing answer to prayer at a time when I was not sure what to do with him.

With all the rain that came down there was quite a 'puddle' not far from my lodgings. I commented that there was quite a lake forming near the school and he responded, 'You mean Lake Tom Thumb?' Lost by the comment I realised the significance as that big puddle that formed in the rain was the actual Lake Tom Thumb from the novel 'I can jump puddles.' written by Alan Marshall. You see, I was in Noorat, Alan Marshall's birthplace and home. I was even more surprised on Sunday to see photos of a strong and vibrant Presbyterian community from that era with a young Alan Marshall sitting in the front row with dozens of other children. It made the stories all the more real and if Lake Tom Thumb hadn't dried up I would have taken a splash in it myself!

Last of all, on my list of experiences in the week was that of the Mt. Noorat pub. They do a mean T-bone Steak for $20.00, putting it in the realms of the Dergholm Pub with their $15.00 roast, but I must say Noorat took the cake for being the first Aussie pub I have come across with carpeted toilets from basin to bowl in the ladies. What a hoot!

It was a lovely week but I am equally glad to be home now!

For those scratching their heads wondering why I am not online, not replying to email, not even answering my phone there was a reason!

I have been away at Glenormiston Agricultural College this past week. Unless you have NextG there is no phone reception, so no real contact with the outside contact with the wider world for a whole week.

The outcome of this? I learnt to quilt..

The downside is that on my personal email account alone I am looking down the barrel of 220 emails (after subscription & spam filtering) to get through tomorrow morning plus all other accounts. This week I am playing catch-up as penance for my week away.

Will hopefully be back for a full update sometime this week!

I have a new Christmas Hanging project that I am going to undertake for 2008. I actually have two pieces of the same design which I will mould into distinct pieces - one as a gift and one for our own home. It is my intention to make them different and maybe push the boundaries from where I would normally draw the line. Of course, doing that is completely dependent on how much time I have to work on it. To the right you will see one of the pieces. I apologise that the corners can't be seen as it is draped over my coffee table.

So, the one that shall be a gift will be given to my 'buddy'. Who is my buddy? Actually there will be no telling until Christmas. In my family we have a system by which everyone has their name put into a hat and whom-ever's name you drawer will your 'buddy' for whom you will create a gift for the next year. So stay tuned to watch my buddy present evolve.

So to create two different designs one is starting with the full lettering done with beading and on with just line ends done with beading. I have done the first square to show you what I mean. Obviously the one with the full lettering is going to take a substantial time commitment which is why I have nominated that one as ours because I doubt it will be done by Christmas!