Some new-old books

Last week I wrote about getting some Japanese Temari books. Well now that the excitement of Mother's day and our school excursion to Kings Park is over I have time to actually blog about them.

Three of the books are quite old but they are all in mint condition. It is so lovely to have them in my collection.



The Gotenmari Photo Collection ISBN 4795203628

This book was printed in 1997 and is written in Japanese and English. It is such a treat to have in my collection. Miho visited us on Sunday for Mothers Day lunch and told me that the novel which inspired the temari designs in the first chapter of this book was the one her Mum wrote a thesis on during her university studies. The novel is called The Tale of Genji and is said to be the oldest Japanese novel. (I wonder if it has ever been translated into English.) This book has no patterns but it is a really beautiful book.

Furursato no Temari ISBN 7509000032012

This book was printed in 1990 and shows examples of styles of temari from all the various locations throughout Japan. I really like seeing the different styles from all over Japan. There are no patterns in this one but many of the almost 400 designs are similar to designs in newer books. There are a lot of temari I'd like to reverse engineer in this book.



Dentou no Temari ISBN 03000090303061

This book is by far the oldest (almost antique - just joking) being printed in 1973. This one has lots of patterns in the back with step by step pictures. Miho laughed as she showed me a picture and asked Do you know what I see? It was a 35mm film canister that was suggested to be used for holding a noisemaker in the center of the temari base... we both laughed... now the old film canister is a definite relic since digital camera age. Having this book is so fun to show how things have changed... but some still stayed the same over the last 40 years. I really love the design on the cover of this book.

This brings me to my last book, which is actually a new, new book. This one was released late last year and as my book supplier in Japan doesn't carry this one, I had too buy it from Amazon.jp.  I already planned the other three books and this one was just an extra thought seeing as Shirley had asked about it too.

Sanuki Temari ISBN 9784140311738

I know this book got some mixed reviews in Temari circles, but I really like it. Because the threads used are made by the Author (so far as I can tell) and are all coloured with natural dyes, the temari have a real earthy subtlety to them. There is only 1 design that uses metallic thread (my own personal crutch) and this makes the designs speak in more quiet, reverent tones. This book so inspired Miho that she wants to try to find uncoloured thread so we can try to tint it ourselves. I love the coloured step by step images in the pattern pages (a godsend for someone like me who tends to look blankly at a diagram and think... Huh??) This book also shows C6 designs. I believe that there is some contention about whether this is actually a valid/recognised division, but I have heard it talked about and wanted to try it forever but couldn't remember if or where I had seen instructions about marking it. Also this book shows making the base using  paper (it looks like some type of tissue paper) to contain the rice hulls and I can't see any yarn layer.
To sum up I do really like this book and can see myself having hours of stitching fun with it.

I made room... and here comes more stuff

My Mum always says you need to make room for good things to come into your life (maybe she pinched it from Oprah but it seems to ring true).

Today I went to see my cute niece and nephew with boxes and boxes of Mr W's old clothes. The boxes filled the entire boot area of our X-trail. Miho made the most delicious soup for lunch. Miss D and I had a great play outside because it was a great sunny day. When Mr M woke up from his nap we started going through all the boxes. There were so many things inside the boxes (8 years of clothes that I never had the heart to throw out). Miss D really enjoyed going through everything, she tried on a much-too-small Winnie the Poo outfit, a much-too-big spider man costume, and a police tee shirt, but settled on a multicoloured - mostly purple - tie dyed star tee shirt that I purchased at the Courthouse Markets in Broome many years ago.

Miho has a whole heap of clothes to share around between the kids (including the one which will arrive in July) but first she has a huge pile of washing to do to get them all ready to wear again because they have been stored in cardboard boxes in the garage and shed for quite a few years. I'm really glad these clothes will be happy with new wearers to enjoy them.

I've always got something coming from far, far away, but I was not stalking the postman today and he must have sensed this because when I returned home there were a bunch of parcels waiting for me. It was good that DH was at home making lemon and lime marmalade today so he could collect the boxes from the mailman.

Today I got Amigurumi eyes, Nordic Gold threads, and temari books.

After I cooked dinner and made dessert (frog balls custard - what Mr W calls those large coloured pearl tapioca balls in custard... the boys love this, but I'm not too keen on it) I sat down an looked through the books. There are 3 second hand books and 1 new book, they are gorgeous. I must publicly say a big thank you to Chloe Patricia for organising the books (which I'd found on Amazon Japan but could not get shipped directly to me). Thank you, thank you, thank you because without your very kind help I would never have the opportunity to own these books. I haven't looked at the eyes yet, and I put all the threads away to use later on.

What a busy day!

Day tripping 2

In York we took several trips across the suspension bridge. This brought back memories for me from the period when we lived near the central coast of NSW and we had to cross a suspension bridge to get to school. Mr W was initially wary about crossing and freaked out just a bit when his Dad started bouncing the platform with his big stamps across the platform. Mr W soon go over it because he ran back and forwards over the bridge several time more.

There is also a neat selection of little stores full of books and handicrafts which are made by locals in the surrounding districts. My favourite was the handmade soap store Monet Natural Soaps which is located in a mall that runs off the main street. I can't find a website link to this lovely little store, but it is run by a really lovely lady who hand makes the soaps. The front soap is minty deliciousness, the soap on the left is rose geranium soap which is a scent I just can't resist and the right soap smells divine but I can't recall the name of it. They are made as an olive oil cold process (CP) soap and we had a good chat about soap making and how much we both loved it.

There was a band called Slim and Jim playing outside this store (in the garden of the adjacent pub) which was so loud (and not too nice to listen to in my opinion anyway) we could hear it when we arrived in town and believe it or not we could also hear it droning all the way to the Mt Brown lookout. Can you see the arrow pointing to the area of the pub? It was about a kilometre from where this photo was taken.

The countryside will be green and lush soon (if we EVER get any rain that is) but right now it is suffering the effects of an extended hot, summer... everything is crisped to within an inch of life. Mr W's favourite store was the old-fashioned sweets shop... he made three visits there during the day. He also purchased a book from the Book Lady's store.

I also made a small purchase at the sweet shop. They were on special for about $3.00 as the chocolate inside was out of date. I tossed out the candy inside because I just wanted the boxes. They are the perfect size for small projects on the go.

I was just going to buy the Reece's tin but I was worried it wouldn't be large enough... I was right, it didn't fit my bias tape. I'm glad I picked up the Hershey's box too, I think I'll use the small tin for Kanzashi flower projects in process which are currently being stored in a small Tupperware container.

Day tripping to York

On Sunday we took a trip out to the Avon Valley. Usually if we are visiting this area we go to Northam and  meet up with a family friend who operates a hot air ballooning business called Windward Balloon Adventures, but on this occasion we travelled about 97 kilometres east of Perth and spent the day in York.

York was the first inland settlement in Western Australia and was settled on September 16th 1831. York is  one of the most popular Avon Valley day trip destinations. The many restored heritage buildings from the Victorian and Federation era which reflect the charm and character of the town. There is an Old Post Office building and the Court House, the York Residency Museum which exhibits include local Noongar* culture, convict history, ceramics and Chinese market gardeners. The York Motor Museum is fun to visit as it houses an international collection of vintage vehicles.


York is the Avon Valley events central and hosts many events throughout the calendar year, many of which utilise the lovely Town Hall. Events at the Town Hall include old time dancing, boot-scooting, weddings, art exhibitions and concerts too. Something I discovered was the fact that the York Town Hall has the largest regional dance floor in Western Australia. The signature event is the ‘York Jazz and Soul Festival’, which attracts international and domestic musicians for a full weekend of live entertainment. Other highlights are the Spring Garden Festival; Gourmet Food and Wine Festival; Antique and Collectors Fair; Healing Fayre and the monthly Peace Park Markets.

There is also a weekend market held at The York Mill. This is the Mill above. This chutney below is what my DH purchased. He sampled it at the market and when we got home he ferreted it away in a cupboard... I wonder if he will share??! We got some nice fresh fruity hot cross buns too which made for a delicious morning tea.

There is also a really lovely gallery next door to the market, it contains some of the most beautiful wooden furniture I've every seen. Of course Mr W needed to make a pit stop so when they got back from the bathroom DH told me about the amazing benches in the bathroom. 'You should have seen it' he tells me...  yes but it was in the little boys room so I sent him back to take a photo seeing as I didn't think I'd be welcome in there.

So here is a pic from his phone. He was right it is awesome, the entire bench was crafted from a single piece of wood. I wonder how long it took to carve out the bowls and how often they have to re-varnish it to keep it from swelling? The bench was really long with several basins carved along its' length. I quite like the look of the miniorb aluminium used to back the bench and as inserts in the doors.

I'll share some more about this day trip soon...

*Noongar is name of the aboriginal tribe and traditional owners of South Western WA.

So cute I couldn't stop clicking

Here is another post about recent shopping I've done on line. This time from Iszle which is also on Madeit (the site that host our temari store).

They had a promotion a short time ago and I think I went a little nuts. But I just couldn't work out how to narrow down my choices.

 I got these 3 scrabble tile pendants.


http://www.madeit.com.au/storecatalog.asp?userid=3800

 These 3 purse mirrors.



http://www.madeit.com.au/storecatalog.asp?userid=3800

 and  these sets of 6 magnets.



http://www.madeit.com.au/storecatalog.asp?userid=3800


I have an idea who will be receiving some of these goodies, but some I may not be able to part with. Click on any of the photo links to visit Iszle's store.

Tees from Matt Spangler

I know I have been promising to post about some of the goodies I have purchased lately but I seem to have been sidetracked along the way. So let me share with you one of my latest treats.

This a treat for someone else... I purchased it at Little Lunarc which is hosted by the same company as our online supply store (Big Cartel).




http://mattspangler.bigcartel.com/product/take-care-japan-charity-shirt

Actually I purchased two of these shirts called Take Care Japan. The artist Matt Spangler is donating his proceeds from the sale of these shirts to the Red Cross for Japanese Disaster Relief. I really like the design, it represents exactly how many of us feel... we want to give Japan a hug and I think the recipients will like them too.
If you like this shirt there are probably (possibly) a few available at Matt's shop, he also has a cute range of kids wear items so click the link under the photo to check it out.

Yubinuki (Thimble Display Case) Frame Tutorial

Yesterday I went to IKEA with my Mum. I needed to buy some replacement rail fittings for my family room curtains, and I have also had my eye on a shadow box for my yubinuki. I found this frame for $20.

I used a large piece of heavy weight thin cardboard and made some shelves to fit inside the shadow part of the box.

Got some thimbles you want to display? I didn't actually plan to make a tutorial at the beginning of this project but it turned out so good I wanted to share.

Here's the how to:

1. Measure the depth, height and width of the box. My frame was 3cm x 22cm x 22cm.

2. Determine the number of shelves you would like inside your display. Then divide the height of the box by this number. (I wanted 4 shelves so divided by 4... my gap was 5.5cm) Double check that the items you want to place on the shelves will fit this gap. This save alot of heartache later... if the items wont fit just recompute with one less shelf.

3. Cut a length of card to the width and height of the box plus 2 times the depth of the box multiplied by the number of shelves.
(For me it was 22 + 2x3 + 2x3 + 2x3 + 2x3 = 46cm)

4. Measure out 1 unit of depth then a shelf height then 2 units of depth and a shelf height etc until you have Score and then folded the shelves up, glued them with pva glue and pegged them to dry. You may need to cut down your shelf height by up to 1cm to get them to fit just right. Just trim little bits off at a time... if it is too small you can't disguise it.

Not a very nice colour (at least not what I wanted to see) so I used some felt left over from a previous project (either the Christmas advent stockings from 2009 or the bunny hats from Easter 2010) and covered them over using thin double sided tape on every edge. I guess you could also use just about any leftover fabric or possibly thin paper... maybe plain is better than a print though.

5. Cut felt 2cms larger than the original cardboard and tape it down beginning just slightly over the end of the cardboard. Trim excess felt on the sides but leave it on the top and bottom. Use a little double sided tape to stick into the base of the frame and lay out your treasures. Very carefully place the shelves into the frame and add the backing. Done!

Here it is filled with some of my yubinuki which I have converted into thimbles. Sorry the photo is a poor quality. Oops I forgot to pull the top bit of felt taught before I closed the back of the frame. I will remember to do that when I add more thimbles.

I plan to fill it with 4 thimbles per shelf but it is almost school pick up time and I have promised to make banana muffins after school so I had better sign off for now.

Seeing as I already had the cardboard, glue, tape and felt this neat display just cost $20. Hope you like this project.

Pretty Pretty Shiny Shiny

If you've got kids (or grand kids) you may have heard this being chanted... I think it is from the kids cartoon My Gym Partner 's a Monkey... which I am sure is a program designed to rot children's brains (like 98% of all children's television) but it's one of my son's favourites and I guess if I don't let him watch the Simpsons then maybe it all evens out?!... or not. 

Anyway this post is not about children's tv but rather my newest favourite thing. My 9 litre stainless steel maslin (jam) pan with interior volume measurements marked in litres and pints right on the inside. It is much more shiny in real life. Tomorrow I am taking it up to my Mum's house for it's maiden cook up. I am going to try Cherry Jam without pectin... I really hope it works out because I'll be pitting 1.5kg of cherries for the job (of course Mr M will probably eat a good portion of them, he is like a truffle dog and can sniff out pitted cherries at 500 metres) if it doesn't set up we will have some delicious ice-cream topping anyway.

I am going to be sure to wear an old black shirt so I wont care if it gets ruined. I dug my cherry/olive pitter out from the back of the utensil draw and my microplane to shred the lemon peel - actually the microplane just needed washing up as I used it to shave Romano cheese onto my pasta dinner tonight.

I also purchased a knob of ginger at the store today because I want to make some pink pickled ginger, not sure if that will happen though as I forgot to get rice wine at Seoulmart today so I might need to find another use for it... maybe shredded with the microplane into warm water... mmm ginger tea! I think Miho wants to make piccalilli and I'm not sure what Mum will make.

Next week I am going to make up another big batch of Sherry Brescia's Pasta Sauce, I made some a few weeks ago and it was delicious even though I forgot to add the red wine and Parmesan to it. Now I have this huge pot I won't have to worry about it sloshing out the top of the pot when I stir it.

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In Temari related news: I have finished wrapping my TC ball, it worked out to be 49.7cm  round, and I have marked it as a C10. I am still stuck on the TK ball... thanks to Jane I know the shape to stitch but I'm still not quite sure on how far from the pole to begin so I'm going to wait for more info... I hate ripping out!

I received a voucher from my local Spotlight store (like Joannes?) for $40 off with a $100 purchase and found some 100g balls of yarn for $2 and $3 each, 4 Milford threads and some cheap spools of over locker thread (2000m for $1) so I splurged and now I have enough wool (I lost count at 35 balls) to reach from my doorstep all the way into the main post office in the Perth CBD... (this is between 15-18kms) Thank goodness I hoard the shipping boxes sent to me, I have a huge box full of yarn now.

I also started to clean out my workroom, which was looking like a scene from 2012. All the larger boxes are away (including the Christmas Decorations too) so all that's left is the counter top. Now I just need to get the 2 bathroom exhaust fans and the kitchen range hood installed so there will be a little more space in the corner for our teams Soccer equipment which has come to live at our house again until September. I don't hold out too much hope for this as I have been 'very gently' suggesting that we install the range since 1999 (no sadly I am not joking, embellishing or mistyping the year) and 'less gently' suggesting that we install it since 2009 when we did a mini renovation of the kitchen. I think I need to strike until this installation work is done, maybe a stitch in... I could refuse to do anything except temari making until the range hood is installed, or maybe sit the box on my hubby's pillow until he gets tired of moving it every night. Any other suggestions??

Finally back to temari making

The last few weeks have been so busy, it seems like I have done EVERYTHING except make temari or yubinuki. During the afternoons this week I have managed to pick up my needle to complete some UFO's. In the late mornings I've been taking my son to swim classes at the beach.  I must say I am amazed at the number of people laying on the beach frying away. I wear a huge hat, 3/4 sleeve shirt and 3/4 length pants and any exposed bits are generously slathered with 30+ sunscreen, the only bit that is bare are my feet which I bury into the sand - trust me there is nothing worse than sunburned toes. I am lucky to have been injured in a car accident when I was 16, the plastic surgeon who stuck me back together was most firm at drumming in the sunsafe message for my facial scarring, and almost 3 decades later the message has still stuck with me even after the scars have faded to almost nothing.

After an hour and a half in the baking sun I am exhausted so we get all our chores done before swimming and then try to do as little as possible afterwards. I have been working a version of a pattern from my small Ondori booklet. This is a S4 with additional support lines. Sorry this picture is a bit dark, but I got called away this afternoon and when I got back it was too dark for natural light.

I think I will pull the band back off and re-wrap it in some other colours because in this pic it looks awful. Let's see what it is like in the morning light. While I have been stitching this, I am also thinking about the design options for my last two JTA temari.

I also have just purchased 3 stockings for next year from an ebay store located in Canada can you guess which one will be mine?   I haven't seen stockings like this in Australia.

Images from: http://stores.ebay.com/Calleycats-Treasure-Chest 

Our Aussie dollar has gone so high against the USD hitting 102 cents today, which is the highest in almost 30 years. This means that I could treat myself to a bit of discretionary spending. Sadly the yen hasn't done the same thing... the Aussie dollar is still languishing around 81 JPY.   :-( but we did have a good spot with the Yen about 3 years ago when we could buy 105 JPY per AUD... maybe that will happen again.

I am expecting to need to find several quiet things to do for a few days starting on January 1st... our weather forecast is for 4 or 5 consecutive days over 40C. Egad! When I saw the following forecasts from the WA bureau of meteorology I can honestly say I nearly cried. I think I will be spending as much time as possible over the next week doing early morning watering on the garden and trying to keep the chickens cool with a little misting, I'll even give the dogs a super big brush to get rid of as much loose hair as possible as the clippers that will manage to cut their hair has not yet been invented.

1.1.11 Saturday Sunny. Min 19 Max 36
2.1.11 Sunday Very hot, sunny. Min 21 Max 40
3.1.11 Monday Very hot, partly cloudy. Min 24 Max 40
4.1.11 Tuesday Very hot, partly cloudy. Min 25 Max 40
5.1.11 Wednesday Hot before a humid change. Min 25 Max 40
6.1.11 Thursday Partly cloudy. Min 22 Max 32

On the plus side I realised that new years day has a date that I like. All number ones. Hopefully this is auspicious and can signal new beginnings for all that want them.

Well that's it for this year. In a few hours it will be 2011, I wish you all the best for your celebrations, stay warm, safe and dry until next year.

Cheers and 乾杯 (Kampai)  

Rebecca and the Aussie Temari Addicts.

If you feel a bit *blah* most of the time read this

I recently began this program of eating along with my mum, because we had both been feeling unwell for a long time, me for more than 12 months and she for nearly 9 years. Are you like us? Do you avoid eating particular foods because you feel sick with pain afterwards? Do you suffer from painful joints and lack of energy? Need a little nap after lunch most days? Get stuck in the bathroom? Did you answer yes to any of these questions?

Release your self from pain and suffering with this easy to follow method of eating which will give you back your energy and health. There are no special foods or pills to pop but you will feel awesome following this program. I would never ever endorse something I didn't completely believe in, so believe me when I say this works 100%. I am a skeptic, I rarely believe anything I am told, I began this program just to pacify my persistent Mother... how lucky for me that I did (even though I refused to believe it would make any difference to my health). My Mum and I feel better than we have in years after less than a month and we noticed the changes in just a day.


REVIEW OF GREAT TASTE NO PAIN

Quick Overview:
With more than 1 out of 3 adults in the US (70 million) taking OTC or prescription pills for digestive disorders and the pain associated with them, as a nation, we have serious health problems. And we're spreading our problems around the world.

What most people are frustrated with is that even if they eat how most health professionals consider to be healthy, a large percentage of people STILL experience digestive problems. And so most people resort to drugs, surgery or eating bland foods. Or they just continue to suffer.
That's why the Great Taste No Pain System was developed -- to help slash some of the $42 billion dollars spent on those pills in the US alone.

This simple eating system is designed to dramatically reduce the acid pH measure in a person's entire body -- not just in the stomach. It does so by increasing the ratio of alkaline forming foods eaten and by showing you how to combine foods in a way that radically decreases the amount of acid digestive juices in the stomach and small intestines required to break down foods. With me so far? Hope so, because this is important stuff.

One of the primary components of the Great Taste No Pain System is the science of food combining, which was first introduced into the US in 1911 by Dr. William Hay, a New York surgeon who used it to cure his Bright's Disease, a kidney disease which was often fatal at that time. In fact, among the many thousands of lives it claimed was Teddy Roosevelt's first wife, who died of Bright's Disease at just 22 years of age.

A basic knowledge of Junior High chemistry is all it takes to see the logic behind this science: Mixing foods that require alkaline digestive enzymes with foods that require acid digestive enzymes slows and can even stop the digestive process. It can and does delay digestion by as much as 10 hours and more. This is incredibly bad for the body. The Great Taste No Pain system alleviates this problem, speeding food through your body, allowing it to absorb nutrients from foods at a much higher level.

In addition, one of the manuals in the Great Taste No Pain system, 'Foods That Create Acid, Foods That Take It Away,' is as clear as I've ever seen this data presented. Follow this simple guide and your body will use a minimum of energy in the digestion process, which leaves more energy for healing and other daily functions your body carries out.

This is a timely set of guides, because with our society's addiction to the convenience of processed foods, in many respects our health challenges are far worse than they were in 1911.

Great Taste No Pain author, Sherry Brescia, was a former Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) sufferer herself. In fact, in 1991, she spent 7 days in the hospital with bacterial colitis.

As a health insurance researcher and Chief Underwriter, she was able to research the benefits of an alkaline- balanced body and over the next 15 years perfected the system she now calls Great Taste No Pain.

She meshed a number of philosophies proven to help alkalize the body to create this simple system that anyone can follow regardless of where they are or what food choices they have available to them.


What I Like:

Taste: Unlike most restrictive diets, Great Taste No Pain cannot actually be called a diet, because it allows you to eat even great volumes of luscious, delicious food as long as you combine it according to a few simple guidelines. It truly requires very little willpower. Perhaps the greatest news for people who love to eat is that the 176 page recipe book in the system is stuffed with breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks that are unbelievably tasty. No rabbit food. Gourmet all the way, yet the meals (if you like to cook) only take between 15 and 30 minutes of prep time and make tons of yummy leftovers. So you can throw away the belief that you can't eat healthy on a super-busy schedule.

Speed: I love that you don't have to read 300+ pages before learning what to do. In the first guide, 'How To End Stomach Pain Forever, Even If Your MD says, "No Way,"' it provides a brief background on the science and then quickly moves onto the step-by-step 'how to.' I really love that.

Simplicity: The second Guide in the GTNP System is 'What To Eat With What.' This is a massive compilation. Every kind of food that you could possibly put in your mouth is listed, along with the corresponding foods that combine with it for easy comfortable digestion, and those foods that don't. This guide is so complete and so easy to follow, if you screw this up, it's back to pre-school for you.

More Simplicity: Traveling is the one thing that can ruin even the healthiest eaters. But in Great Taste No Pain, Sherry gives you a 'Pocket Guide For Pain-Free Dining Out.' This tool is phenomenal. You can store this little baby with your credit cards and, until you understand what combines with what, all you have to do is pull out your pocket guide and quickly note the rule, so you can eat and enjoy the rest of your day, pain-free.

Would you believe that you could eat McDonald's food and not suffer gassiness and reflux? Now you can!

Meat: While meat is not something people with digestive issues usually tolerate well on a daily basis (hence the daily pain), the problem isn't so much the meat as it is what you eat with the meat.

That is why each of the Guides in the system, including the recipe book, lists every possible food you can combine with meats without suffering. Most people will suddenly be able to eat beef, chicken, fish, pork, turkey, venison and any other type of meat they want. As long as you combine it right... no pain at all! And broccoli, lettuce, cucumbers and other veggies that can create havoc suddenly will not. That I love.

Fruit: Ask anyone that suffers stomach problems about fruit and you'll hear horror stories. So sadly, the most perfect food on the planet is shunned by a huge part of our world's population. No longer. Because you will soon learn why fruit causes you trouble and how to easily change that. You CAN eat fruit again, even if it now makes you turn blue! It's true!

While each Guide in the system is detailed and complete, they are "dumbed down" in the clearest language possible. So I don't doubt Sherry's claim that any 11 year old could teach it. This I really love.

Things To Watch For:

The one thing you want to be careful of is that once you start eating as prescribed in Great Taste No Pain, you could quickly begin to feel all powerful. You might start to think you are "cured" of your digestive problems since they went away so fast and since you have so much extra energy.

That would be a mistake.

Because technically there is no "cure" for most digestive problem, because technically they are not diseases at all. They are maladies brought on by eating the wrong foods and by eating them in the wrong combinations. So the principles in Great Taste No Pain is not a "cure," since people with sensitive stomachs will always be sensitive. GTNP is merely a way to make all symptoms go away forever and give you a lot more energy.

For example, let's say you've got it bad and have Diverticulitis or Crohn's. Great Taste No Pain can help you get rid of your symptoms very quickly.

But a year later, if you start eating like you used to, guess what? Yep, the symptoms will come back. You see, the principles that Great Taste No Pain is based on are sound. They work for everyone. But if you think that because you've been symptom-free for a long time, you've been "cured," think again. Go against these principles of easy digestion, and the problem can come back with a vengeance. Remember, good health comes from living a healthy lifestyle, not a"do it once and you're fixed" approach.

Another thing you might want to be prepared for is that since Great Taste No Pain cleanses your digestive tract, initially you could get a little diarrhea. If you experience constipation on a fairly regular basis, you might get a little "looseness" at first, but it will end soon.

Also, due to the detoxing going on, you might get a runny nose or get some other cold-like symptoms at first. It's nothing to worry about. If you do, while it might not be fun, it does mean it's working. It means your body is becoming purer and the toxins are leaving. And that is a very good thing.

Conclusion:

When I began following the system, I personally was amazed at the amount of energy I had, even late into the evening. I had no discomfort, no bloating, I didn't feel the need to eat again within an hour and no need for caffeine after meals.

Professionally and personally, my strong recommendation is that for anyone who wants more energy, sounder and longer sleep, migraine headaches to stop almost immediately, pain from gastritis and acid reflux to stop almost instantly, and the pain of digestive problems to stop or be reduced dramatically, click here to get over to the Great Taste No Pain website now and get the whole system. You will be thrilled.

And frankly, it won't take a full day for most people to feel a major difference in their bodies. Often it just takes one meal. After you have been following it for a week or more, feel free to let me know how you like it. I personally believe that anyone who adopts this simple, enjoyable food combining method will reap gigantic health benefits. So if that is what you are looking for, get over to - http://www.greattastenopain.com/cmdt.asp?id=1289201&t=374931 and get started today.

All my best,

Rebecca Armstrong Koelma

I got it from madeit.

A few weeks ago I did a swap with another seller on madeit. There are loads of art and craft websites on the www and madeit is probably the Aussie version of etsy. The difference is that there are no supplies sold on madeit and all items sold there can only be made by crafts people in Australian.  I gave a set of 15 flower topped pins similar to these shown below.




I received this cute little felted Chickie Mini Purse from Cassie at Rainbow Lollies. The photo is a little dark but the outer is a nice deep navy blue. Click on the image to see it a little larger and you'll see all the details.

You can see the cute packaging featured in the middle of the picture... it really felt like receiving a gift when I opened the parcel. Cassie is running a 3 for 2 special at her store at the moment click over and have a look. Right now my own madeit store is empty :( I've been focusing on my temari supply store recently but when I get a few minutes I will pop up a few listings at made it.

I'm not sure if I will keep this for myself or gift it to a lucky friend... if I can bear to part with it of course.

Choosing colours and a big fat bargain

Anyone that knows me understands how much I love blue. I have a 2 blue sofas, a long window covered in steel blue curtains, loads of linen in blue tones, several shades of blue carpet throughout the house and even blue tiles on our bathroom floor. When I decorate cakes and cookies and make my homemade soap I usually choose blue. Even my child is blue (a boy anyway - as opposed to a pink girl - and his school uniform... it's blue) and my hubby's work uniform?? Yes it is blue too. I dread ever putting our home on the market as I am sure potential buyers would refer to it as 'you know that blue house...' Anyways can you really have too much of a good thing. Not really but sometimes I can have a little trouble working with other colours on my temari. I think of red as a traditional colour for making temari so I usually find most of my temari in red or blue.

This week I wrapped a few temari in unusual colours (by this I mean not blue). I have a medium green, a chocolate, a latte, and a creamy coloured temari ready to go. Now these are lovely colours, but I grew up in the 70's and think I had my fill of them (thank you fashionista Mum who kept us dressed in the latest threads when we were growing up) I am really trying to challenge myself and by choosing weird colours it is going to force me to think outside the box.
What colours do you always gravitate to??

A few weeks ago I went to Spotlight (Australia's craft supply chain store) to pick up some threads because I had a $40 voucher burning a hole in my pocket. When I got home I looked over the receipt and noticed the price per skein was 49c more and the balls were $1.49 more than the needlework store across town where I have previously made purchases. My frown quickly turned upside down when I noticed on the back of the receipt the store has a lowest price policy where they will beat any other price by 10%. So when I went back today I took proof of the cheaper price and with the money I got back I purchased 7 extra skeins and had $2 left over.
Yippie!!!

Oh my! Look at my Omiyage!

Yesterday I posted about my brother's family returning to Australia from their Japan holiday. They were only away a few weeks but we missed them like crazy.

After we got them home from the airport they opened up their suitcases to share the omiyage (souvenirs) they had brought home for everyone. Wow I have never seen so many things packed into so few pieces of luggage (I suspect there could be some shipping boxes arriving later with their own things inside).

This is my combination of omiyage and self purchases. How lucky am I? Thank you to Miho and Seth for all the goodies.

2 boxes of KNK thread and 12 cards of other thread. Lucky me! I love the little boxes. Luckily I have a nice box which came with a Himitsu-Bako (trick box) to store the extra threads in.

The new temari book I purchased on Amazon and Miho brought it home. There are so many lovely temari inside. Some I wish I could begin right now but I must focus on finishing up all my little projects first. Can you see the shadow of my knuckles on the lower right of the book? Today is a glorious sunny winter day 24C. I took the pics in the early morning sun out on our driveway.

 The hardcover thimble book I purchased on Amazon and a cute piggy phone dangle. Also the two watermelon thimbles arrived from Chloe Patricia. Miho also brought back 4 packages of the silk wadding Chloe Patricia uses to prepare her thimble bases... I forgot to photograph them but as they are whitish in colour they wouldn't show up well anyway. The next pic is a close up of the watermelon thimbles.

 

 Aren't they delicious looking? Chloe Patricia has started a new round of share your thimble for August. Get more details here, this month's thimble prize is gorgeous!

Here is a picture from the thimble book... what an inspiring dream image, a whole box full of lovely little thimbles.

Today was a really awesome day. I got lots of lovely sun for my early morning photo taking, met with a girlfriend for lunch, dropped off Ninja (aka the furry cousin)... which meant time for a play and snuggles with my nephew and niece (I'm still catching up on all the hugs we missed while they were away), then home in the rush hour traffic but with no major delays, easy dinner - my son's fave burritos, a sneaky cat nap on the sofa, a few wii games then sharing a book before my son went to bed. If only a fairy could come and wash the dishes the day would be complete.

The amazing WWW and my new favourite thing.

I think that the Internet is amazing. We use it every day with out thinking about how stupefyingly brilliant it is.  Until we are without Internet access for a few days we don't realise how much we take instant global communication for granted.

Here is an example of the amazing web experiences that I came across just a few weeks ago thanks to my connections on the www.

I am a subscriber to Martha Stewart's website and I get sent a daily email with craft projects on it.  Last year I saw a little heart soap project that got me thinking about making soap. This led me to reattempt to source soap-making supplies in my local area.  I discovered, with the help of Google, an online soap supplier which linked me to the SoapQueen blog run by Anne Marie from Brambleberry.

Now Anne Marie's other obsession is cupcakes so in her links I came across Cakewrecks and Bakerella where I found the link to Cake Journal. At this site I looked through the list of favourite blogs and came across OhSugar's blog where she features the most lovely little black dress project. Thankfully she included to link to the supplier ecrandal so off I went and made my purchase of my new favourite thing few weeks ago. (ecrandal is family owned and operated by Hubby and Wife team Eric and Jamie... if you want something special visit their store)

I got an email a few hours later to say that they we about to make my cutter and would advise me of the postage when they knew how much it weighed. It was being made by hand... just for me. A few days later it was in the post with a kind handwritten note and exquisitely package with a raffia ribbon bow to top it off.

And here it is... my very own handmade party dress cookie cutter. Sitting on top of one of my reusable self made Mors shopping bags

I almost cried when I opened the parcel. My early birthday present to myself. It is so beautiful and it is all mine and I can't wait to use my cutter.

Handmade with pride in North Carolina, USA and cherished in Perth, Australia.

Perth Upmarket

Yesterday I went with my one of my besties, LouLou, to the Perth Upmarket.  It is a quarterly handmade artisan craft market which has been held since 2008 in the Perth Town Hall .  This year the market expanded to the University of WA's Winthrop Hall.  Image below from wikipedia

My favorites are Anna Hadwin's amigurumi, Craftapalooza's scrabble tile jewellery, Eucalypt Homewares gorgeous ceramic bowls, Mokoh Design's magnets and prints, and Tamara Harrison's and Pelava's awesome jewellery.  All I can say is WOW there are some talented people in our city!

I have been noticing something of a crafting trend over the last 18 or so months.  Just over 18 months ago it was all about CUPCAKES then about 6 months ago it turned into all things BABUSHKA MATRYOSHKA and this time it is all about OWLS.  I wonder how these trends start? And how it can be that so many individual crafters happen to have such similar themes.

There were several items that were made with fabric or paper the had temari printed somewhere on the design... there is a real Japanese influence in crafting materials here (maybe it is the same everywhere) but, having said that, there were nothing like temari or yubinuki items for sale... Maybe there will be one day?!

Yubinuki (Thimble Ring)

 

Image from http://www.yubinuki.net/

 

Have you heard of thimble rings?  They are just lovely and an incredibly intriguing proposition.  There are many web pages devoted to these miniature masterpieces (remember we're talking finger sized).

 

The Japanese word is Yubinuki and this is probably what to type into google if you want to find out more.  Most websites are in Japanese (use a translator to help you navigate the sites) but have awesome photos on them that will make your eyes simply bug out.  One blog dedicated to this art is Ma Mercerie (link #2 below) and is written in English.  I wouldn't think that people would use such beauties for their functional purpose at risk of messing up the designs, but if the scale were upsides they would make fantastic stands for temari or napkin rings or bracelets etc.

Image from  Ma Mercerie etsy site.

Today I ordered a thimble ring kit from the  Ma Mercerie etsy store. The kit has a needle and threads, and a pre-finished base on which the first 2 rows are stitched - the closest thing to having someone sitting there showing you the way.  I have wanted to make thimbles for the longest time and have even tried one but it was TOTALLY dodgy and will NEVER be seen by anyone.  Sometimes all the instruction in the world is just not enough for me (and I must say there are lots of well written tutes on the Ma Mercerie blog site).  In these circumstances I just need to see and feel the item I want to make in the 'flesh' and somehow I suddenly can process all the instructions I have read.  It was the same when I began making temari, all the books were ok to work from but until I held a mari in my own two hands I just couldn't quite 'get' it. 

So I am looking forward to making my first thimble when it arrives.  I guess I will be stalking the mailbox again... my poor postman.

A little IKEA madness... or maybe a lot?!

Readers of this blog will know I love making a rather diverse range of craft.  None of which really overlap (read: use the same supplies).  For instance as far a thread arts go... I only make temari, I don't do any other hand embroidery.  I make soap and bath bombs but not lotions and creams, I scrapbook and make cards (OK they are complimentary) but I don't do any other paper-craft.  And so the list goes on.... 

Unfortunately my little house is full to the brim of crafting supplies from pearl beads to perle cotton, pliers, glass grinders and sheets of decorative glass to decorative punches, glitter and scissors.  Today when I was out and about, my wonderful husband surprised me by converting our spare room (read: room known as the guest room but actually used as a place where we have just put stuff we don't know where else to store) into a craft room.  I arrived home to find a table set up with my sewing machine atop and all my plastic boxes of fabrics and papers placed against one wall.  I am so excited because I can now have a clean dining table and leave my UFO's set up for short periods of time when they can't be immediately completed.

Every time I visit our local IKEA store I promise myself to NOT make any purchases... I don't know why I bother with this ritual as I never keep my promise.  On my last 3 visits I have purchased items that I have classified under the heading 'essential temari purchases'.  These items were as follows:

IKEA Stockholm Bowl - looks great filled with temari and is often featured in my blog images. This lives either on top of the coffee table or on top of the Alex unit featured below.

Alex wide drawer unit - loads of storage space and keeps my thread/yarn/book stash perfectly and I love, love, love the casters and the wide white surface is great for setting my temari up for photographing.

Kvart Floor Lamp - fitted with cool white bulb for my regular stitching all nighters and also helpful for lighting photos when used in conjuction with my sons lamp which is the table top version of this lamp.

Alex 9 drawer upright unit - Fab for keeping my books and various threads used for classes etc.  Also the new home for my latest temari purchase.

Bladet 45cm tall hand-blown vase: a lovely big vessel for displaying my temari.  It has a 25cm diameter. I also purchased a glass candle platter to place on top to keep out the dust.  I dumped in a random selection of temari in loads of different sizes to see how it might look.  Now I want to work on colour themes which I can change with the seasons.

Now that I have an entire room dedicated to crafty pursuits I might even look for another wall unit so I can be even more organised.  I guess I will be back to IKEA soon because this is the unit I am thinking of. It is from the Expedit range.

I am working at the 3rd round (of how many I don't yet know) on my HHG challenge ball which I hope to have completed and on this blog in the next few days.

All quiet on the temari front... but.....

Not too much temari happening the last few days.  I am working on a Stitching Challenge so I prefer not to start any other temari projects while this one is on the go.  Pic above is the ball ready to be stitched. Of course that doesn't preclude (yes I am using My Word Coach on DS :)...) me from meandering through an array of other crafty persuasions.



This week I have made:

 A new handbag from a Nicole M design.  Nicole is a Melbourne based designer that sell hat and bag patterns (and other stuff too).  I discovered her work when I hit the 'make a month' button on MaMercerie recently.  I really like it but this one was just a practice run because I plan to make it again using some fabric I just love that I ordered from Japan.  I have been holding this fabric for a while (2 years actually) waiting for a worthy project to come along.  I am glad I made this practice bag because now I realise it is just a smidge too small for me and I will need to add about an inch and a half (or now i think about it - in metric about 5 cms to the length) so I can fit in all my junk.  I added the optional flap and gusset.



I also have a hat pattern I really want to try out but I will need to re-read the pattern a few times to get the process cemented into my brain.  I'd like to make my hat like the one modelled on the stand.

6 tote bags (only 5 more to go) for my son's soccer team buddies as part of my Morsbags campaign (yes I am a sociable guerilla bagger).  The team colours are of course black and white and whilst I wanted a stripe fabric I am happy with this look even if it meant I had to buy 2 different fabrics and make the stripe my self.  They look a bit too stylish for 8 yo boys... I can see some mums will probably end up with them.  I have been part of the Morsbags program for a while now but only give the bags to people I know... I am too chicken to stand in the Mall approaching strangers and asking them to take one of my bags. I have a set of 5 bags for myself that I made from a cute floral fabric.  They are really strong, (can carry 3 bottles of wine) machine washable, (in fact that's where they are right now getting their quarterly wash) and identifiable (so I always know I've picked up my own bag full of shopping and more importantly no one else have picked it up).

The final two panels on my IKEA curtain tracks... yes I did begin them 6 months ago but there are 12 panels.

10 Black Skull Soaps for my son's birthday party bags and a bunch of other baby duck and penguin soaps.  I also made the invitations for his party which people had told me they were quite stylish due to the fact they were machine embroidered to card stock... until of course I admitted I was too lazy to go ratting through my scrap booking stuff looking for double sided tape and I had the sewing machine already set up. I shouldn't be so honest... it is damaging my craft cred.

Next week I will be painting...  it wont be anything amazingly artistic (although with a 2yo in the house the floor is sure to end up looking like a Pollock), just the sleep-out at Miho's house... we all love green just not 70's mint green when it is on every single surface in the room.  I am sure that I will be back to temari after the painting is finished.

Thank goodness school is back in session.  I actually have enjoyed having a few guilt-free crafting hours!!!


じゃね　さようなら！

See ya later! (working on my My Japanese Coach on DS too)

Getting organised.

I stitch on the move mostly so my 'movable' temari supplies are compact and organised. But my 'at home' stash is.... hmmmm... how can I describe it???? My husband usually refers to it as ".... that disgusting mess...."

Well maybe a photo might help... Hold on, brace yourself ....

Just so you know: I tried to make the picture an iddy biddy tiny one to make it look a bit better my hubby caught me and said to re-size it to show the full magnitude.

I admit it is just awful. But yesterday I felt inspired and met my Mum at our 'other' favourite store IKEA and we searched high and low for something to fix this nasty problem.

We found our most elegant solution in the office furnishing section (that only part of the IKEA store I always walk past). I think it is for storing A2 sized papers. I have a drawer for wrapping cottons, one for my take away boxes of perle 5 & 8 cottons, another for books and one drawer for bits & pieces that go into class kits. You can see in the left picture the bendable lamp I use at night (also from IKEA purchased on a previous visit). There are two natural light sources near this area so I think I just found my new temari photo set. Bonus!!

There are many great features in this little unit but the best is that it's on little wheels so when we stitch at my home I can move the supplies right to the table for everyone to dig in and play. Below is the draw of 'share thread' I use it for learning balls etc...

Now if only I could get it into the back of the X-trail.....

I do have to be honest: I still have a box of stuff that wont go into the drawer unit. All my completed temari, but no matter they go into storage elsewhere. And I know this wont store all my bits soon but the silver lining is that in the Alex range at IKEA there is a tallboy style unit that matches this one - and I can fit it into the room. Yay!! Now just don't tell my hubby.