Kelly Casanova Weaving Lessons

Kelly

Little Star

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                                                                Image courtesy of Amazon.com


I’m usually a little apprehensive when it comes to books written about “the Christmas story” as they can be a little fanciful and detract from the true beauty and meaning of the Nativity. Instead of believing the reality of the birth of Jesus, children can start to feel it is just another story that makes for good reading but without any real substance.

Not so with Anthony’s book, “Little Star”. Without giving too much of the story away and ruining the surprise for you, the book offers a look at the Nativity from a different angle without changing what actually happened. The book begins with a father speaking to his young son, so the child can instantly relate to the story. The writing is descriptive but not complicated. I must mention the illustrations also, which are artistic, beautiful and vibrant.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book (and it would make a great Christmas present).

Anthony DeStefano is a dedicated Christian and a lovely person to deal with. If you would like to find out more about him and his other books, Google offers a wide range of pages or you could start here.

Happy reading!

Please note: I do not receive cash payment for product reviews unless otherwise specified.

Poo, bum, wee – oh please!!

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We love books. What we would do without good books I do not know. Which brings me to the library. What we would do without the library I do not know, but I feel a little excited each time I walk in there knowing I can borrow up to 60 items and not pay a cent.
We visit the library at least once a week and use our full quota (remember there are 6 of us!)

But something has been bothering me about an increasing trend in children’s fictions. Many adult writers seem to feel that the dumber their books are the more they will sell. And I guess they must be right because a lot of these authors are very popular.

These books lack dignity. They belittle children. They force the child into a stereotypical box of giggles over obscenities and slang. They “dumb down” the child not to mention the parent or other adult who has obtained the book in the first place.

I have my own personal boycott against these authors and hope that others will do the same so that “toilet fiction” will eventually fizzle out altogether.

The $7 dress

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Oh, the angst this dress caused me!! I wanted to make my own dress to wear to my sister’s wedding. I spent a good deal of time pouring over patterns before deciding on Simplicity 3503. Then I agonised over fabrics for about a week. I haven’t made many garments for myself and I’m not good with knowing what colours and style suit me.
So… after carefully measuring I started the dress and finished fairly quickly. I tried it on a lot before finishing, but somehow it ended up with problems. Like it was way too big. The neckline was too low and gaping. It was extremely long. And the waistband was completely wrong. Then the worst part – the style made me look about 6 months pregnant!!!
I was determined not to give up. So I did something that really surprised me. I put the instructions and pattern away. I said a prayer. I took the dress apart and started again. Don’t ask me what I did – I cut, sewed, gathered, put in darts and somehow it all came together for a perfect fit!
Now here is the cool part. The fabric was off the Spotlight clearance table. At $2 a metre the dress worked out to roughly $7! (Not including the pattern cost)
I received many, many positive and flattering comments at the wedding. My husband gazed at me all night long. He is still gazing at me 4 days later. It was great to feel “pretty” again, it’s been a long time!
I couldn’t mention the wedding without showing my gorgeous sister being presented by Dad. She was so happy and beautiful. Marriage is a truly beautiful gift.
Disclaimer: The shots of me were taken by my 10 year old “photographer”. He needs practice!

Traditional fudge

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You either love or hate this type of fudge. Some people love the grainy texture, others like the more modern and smooth fudge. Being an extreme sweet tooth, I like both!

This recipe only has 4 ingredients and is easy to make. My son actually made the dish and we took turns stirring (it needs a lot of stirring!)

It’s really delicious and very rich, so you only need a small piece – well, that’s the idea anyway. It’s kinda hard to stop at one piece. You’ll find the recipe here.

From scraps to….

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Experimenting with dyes and paints is lots of fun but can leave you with a lot of swatches. Being the despiser of waste that I am I’m always trying to come up with ways of using the scraps.
My embroidery scissors had been housed in my needlecase, which was just awful as they were forever falling out.
Ah – much better! If I was going to have a scissors case it needed to be bright so I wouldn’t lose it!
I sewed together bits and pieces of painted and dyed swatches, then practiced my free motion embroidery to make it really interesting.
I love a project that brings together a variety of skills and techniques. I machine embroidered spirals on the front.
And stippled all over the back. Now I think I’m ready to tackle a bigger machine embroidered project!

Rainbow doll

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Finally – a new doll for the shop! This one is a little bit special because she has a lot of hand dyed elements.
Her dark purple dress was hand dyed by me (the frill is from some fabric Nic Wood sent me). The silk cape was dyed in the shibori method by me. Her flared pants were hand painted by my son.
Then there is the hair of course. The gorgeous rainbow hand dyed and spun yarn from Nell.
I don’t think I’ll be too sad if this doll doesn’t find a home for Christmas, there are always other possibilities!

A few things I’ve been sewing

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Another busy week but at least I managed some sewing time! I found a cute monkey printed jersey at Spotlight on the clearance table and made some “non girly” pyjamas for the “non girly” girl. The good news is she loves the shorts and wants to wear them 24/7 – the bad news is she hates the top and refuses to wear it. Sigh.
I had dyed a mandala on some broadcloth that was just the right size to make a little dress for Half Pint. It’s very cute but next time I need to make the straps longer and the dress less “boxy”.
From the back.
I love these moments! I caught the boy teaching the little one some piano. These two may be 10 years apart in age but they are terrific friends.
It’s pouring rain here today after yesterday being warm and windy, so the garden is drinking it in. I must show you some photos of the garden soon, it’s such a wonderful place to be at the moment.
Happy weekend and God bless you all šŸ™‚

Bloggrrrrrr!!

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I have things to show. I don’t really like texty posts, I like to have something nice to look at too. Blogger won’t let me upload images. Not yesterday. Not today. Is it me? Is it them? What if I can’t fix it? Am I destined to become a text only blog?! Hmm, a little dramatic perhaps, but I want my image uploader back!!