A whole new world...

...without leaving my burrow. There has been a shift in my world. I love my home, always have, but for a long time I've felt a compulsion to get out of it regularly. To escape the monotony and step out of the ominously looming shadow cast by that ever-present towering pile of housework. I've always loved being within a short walk of town, often throwing on a coat and trundling out the door with one kid in tow and the other in her three wheeled chariot. But, something has changed. Or more likely, the universe has aligned and several changes have shunted my tendencies back in to the warmth of our home and to the comfort of the couch.
I think the weather is partly to blame (or thank). I'm a self diagnosed sufferer of seasonal affective disorder. My family can reliably pick my mood by first looking out the window. If the sun is shining, so am I. If it's grey and miserable, me too. If it's blowing a gale....well, let's say lucky I'm not a kite because the wind sends me quite bonkers. So, with all this post drought, normal, icy, drizzly, winter weather we've been having of late I've metaphorically wrapped myself in a mohair blankie and gone into hibernation. I've started peeking through the curtains then deciding we can survive on the last dribble of milk for a bit longer. I can drink my tea black if it means I don't have to brave the great outdoors.
Then there's the arrival of Gidget. Gidget, the gadget. Before the courier arrived with her all bundled up in her cardboard box I lived in a long suffering household equipped with an arthritic computer and constipated Internet. I knew there was a whole world of fun to be had but I was experiencing it in dribs and frustrating drabs. Then there was the issue of getting online in the first place. It was this long winded palaver of locating cords, clearing down a spot on the table, finding the internety-thingy then waiting for the laborious booting up process to finish. I could get a load of washing done while I waited. Gidget asks nothing more than for her funky orange cover to be flipped over. Then that tricky inter-ma-thingy is ready to be toggled. Better still, I can poke away intermittently wherever I need to be. Like now, I'm happily parked on the couch, blogging away.There is no longer the pressure to get the words out before junior and juniorjunior arrive, once again, by my side. I can fiddle away flipping the cover open a shut on a whim, stopping and starting whenever I please.
This new and improved, touchable, portable connectivity is even keeping me out of the shops, which is no small feat. I find great, guilty pleasure in wandering around the florescent, mass produced wonderland of big shops and supermarkets. There's something hypnotic about it that makes me buy crap I neither like, nor need before filling me with a deep sense of materialistic, money wasted, induced nausea.
Now, a clarification. It hasn't kept me out of ALL shops. It's just given me a new found selection which better suit my ideals. I can choose not to buy mass produced, support clever people and end up with something far nicer than what Big W has on offer. Hello etsy.com and goodbye to hours spent doing the 'taste test'. For the initiated it's just like eBay but cooler and without the auction induced anxiety. Bet you can't resist pushing that 'next page' button.
After buying a new sewing book recently (pictured) in a REAL shop, my passion for clothes is being reinvigorated. Enter, once again the services of Gidget. She has enabled me to find the awesome fabric shop duckcloth.com.au. It puts the local Spotlight to shame on quality and cool. I can't touch it or feel the fabric but I still want it. All.
Just last night I stumbled upon whatkatiewore.com which propelled me further into wanting to get creative with my get up. Have sticky, whacky but fab.
One more recent mind shifting discovery is ravelry.com which feeds my yarn craft compulsion to bursting. My biggest bittersweet regret is acknowledging I will never have enough hours to knit or crochet all the jumpers, toys or cutesy fruit shaped beanies I've found.
Best of all, this winter/gadget induced mind shift has got my family all cozied up. We're spending more time together, the kids are getting more home time to give their toys a pounding and my boy is fast learning how to whip me at checkers, age 3.
Now, if I could just convince this gadget that it can't read my mind and should stop changing my words without telling me. Sorry, in advance for any inappropriate or weird words.



With all this snuggled up family chumminess going on, crafternoons have become more of a feature. Yesterday we got messy with some paint and paper and made a large pile of butterfly prints. Remember those? Never being satisfied with keeping it simple I thought we'd gild the lily and string them together for yet another take on the ubiquitous bunting. I thought if I ever clapped eyes on another bunting I'd not be able to control my urge to strangle someone with it (my deepest apologies to bunting loving friends). But, I was quite pleased with the hand made kindy craft vibe of this one. Yep, nice. Look out for the full tutorial in Clever Hands coming soon (just click the button on the right hand side of this blog.)
Ooh, and not too far away is a new range of brooches. If you think the current ones are super marvelous, just wait until my bundle of bits arrives...I find a couple of developmental hours...design and illustrate several...come up with the packaging design...then take pictures then blog about/list them on Madeit. You will be besotted, I'm sure. I just hope you're patient, too!