Among the Gumtrees Prize winner!

First off I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who sent their warm wishes to me and assure you that I am fine, My leg has had an external fixiture on it for 3 months now and it is time for it to come off. I have a mild infection in one of the pin sites, which is why I was admitted to hospital early.

Just to prove that I am fine - I managed to talk the Dr into letting me stay home on the first day for my sons 1st birthday party and just had to have some IV antibotics before I went home, then of course my stitching day was on the 2nd day, so I talked him into letting me go to that, I just had to have some more Antibioltics in the morning and was admitted that night. So anyway, all is fine, I am just counting down the days until they will send me to Sydney to have my metal removed :) yeah!

Now as I mentioned yesterday I will be away and hopefully in Surgery on the day that I am supposed to draw the winner of my Among the Gum Trees competition so I decided to draw the prize a couple of days early. I truly appologise if you didn't get a chance to get your entry in, however I'm sure you understand my dilemour.

I am soooo happy to announce the winner of my competition! She is a massive fan of Christmas and even has a blog dedicated to it! Funnily enough I was just looking at her blog last night! (I was hunting around making sure everyone deserved their 3 entry's hehe) Amazing! Anyway without further ado I announce the winner is 'drum roll please'

'SHAKERWOOD PRIMATIVES!'

Congratulations and thank you for entering my competition! I will be in contact soon!

And now, Until I'm back from Hospital I will say so long. Remember take a look at my fellow Gum Tree Designers blogs if you are after a good read! All their blogs are listed on the left side of my blog.

Hugs Paula xxx

I'm off to Hospital again...

Good evening my friends. As I type I am sitting in my hospital bed stressing out about the competition I am holding for the launch of the Gum Tree Designers Blog.
I have decided that in order to be fair to everyone who has already entered my competition I will draw my winner tommorow morning. Depending on my ability to access a computer (I am borrowing my mums laptop tonight so I can post this) I was concerned that I may be in an operating theatre on Wednesday. The day of the draw.

So there we are, if you have not yet entered my draw for the Annie Downs prize pack, head down this page a bit and you will find the post. Leave a message and you will go in the draw.

Thanks so much to everyone who has left a comment! I am blessed.

Hugs Paula

Dawn's Giveaway!

One of the best parts about being involved in the Gum Tree Designers is seeing how generous and caring these woman are!

For absolutely no reason other than hopefully to sell a few patterns to you their loyal readers, my 8 dear friends are giving away amazing prizes and wonderful patterns for you to use.

Today I want to tell you about Dawns giveaway, check out this amazingly generous bundle!

A 'Millies Market Day Bag' pattern by Janelle Wind,

1/2 mt (.45yd) of blue floral fabric,

2 fat quarters 1pink spots, 1 blue allover paisley,

3 skeins of DMC vareigated thread,

1/2 doz vintage wooden pegs,

2mt (1.8yd) of blue ricrac + a few little surprises!

Drop by Dawns blog and enter, you've got nothing to loose! Make sure you stick around Dawns blog is a great read, so pop the kettle on and head on over for a look!

Melvins New Friends

I have had a non stop day today of sewing! I'm heading back to hospital in a week or so and I wanted to make my kids some toys to cuddle while I'm away. I have to go to hospital in Sydney to see the only specialist who is game to operate on me. I saw a number of other specialists, but they didn't have the confidence to be able to handle my injury. Anyway, last time I was only supposed to be away for 5 nights, and ended up being away for 5 weeks.

Anyway, thats all fine, I'm actually looking forward to this surgery because it means I am getting my leg brace taken out, so this is a good one. Then it's the hard work of learning to walk again.

On to happier things, here are the baby's I made for my Baby's. Once again they are from the Kaleidoscope book by Melly and Me. You can find their links a few posts down about Melvin.

So without further ado, I introduce Bubbles the Unicorn...And Bella Boo the bunny rabbit... She still needs a flower in her hair and a pretty dress, but I'll get there :)
I wanted to offer a tip, you probably already know this, but I like quilting because you can make beautiful things without having to use patterns. I like being given a measurement and being able to cut it out with a rotary cutter and ruler. So when I was supposed to cut out template plastic for the patterns for these toys I though, I need to find another way. So I got out my freezer paper and traced the patterns and then ironed them onto my chosen fabric. It made life soooo much easier! I could move the pattern and fabric around without worrying about moving the pattern and messing it up. I can also use the paper again, and it is so much cheaper than template plastic. So here they are together, Bella Boo and Bubbles :)
Aren't they just adorable!

Cheryls Giveaway

Just a quick one tonight, I have had a very busy day making some friends for Melvin :)

but I wanted to share with you some info about Cheryl's giveaway! I know they just keep coming don't they!!

Cheryl is an amazing lady and she is so generous with her giveaways, check this out, if you win you will receive 2 Willowberry Designs patterns - 'Christmas Treats' and the 'Sampler Embroidery Folder', a bundle of gorgeous vintage print fabrics in muddy mauves and pinks, laces, buttons and other bits n pieces of mushy stuff that's just lovely to look at....

She will even personalise your very own needle book. Thats not all though the little inset photo is the embroidered front panel.... and she's sharing her Aviary stash with you. That's huge!! So go on, click on her button and go and check out Cheryl's giveaway! Someones got to win it, it might as well be you!

Melvin's pants and Another Giveaway!

Well thanks to the many suggestions I decided that Melvin just had to have two pairs of pants :) Of course he got his red pants and DH sacrificed a pair of his fav holey jeans for the cause, so here he is in all his glory! :)

I still think the red looks better,

and hubby did admit that the denim ones need more red on them, but I think he still looks gorgeous! I had a house full of people over last nightto watch Parramatta win the Rugby League, (yeahhhhh, go the eels) anyway there was 5 kids in the house and everyone of them had to have a turn playing with him, so Softies it is for christmas! Excellent, thats easily organised!Onto the fun stuff, Vikki of Sew Useful Designs is another of my fellow Gumtree Designers and as part of the launch she is offering an awesome giveaway.

Vikki is offering you some patterns and books from some of her favourite Aussies. Up for grabs is a gorgeous pattern by the ever-popular Bronwyn Hayes of Red Brolly Designs. Next up is a fabulous book by Tracey North of I Luv Country and finally a pattern for a Sampler needle case by Lynette Anderson-O'Rourke. Vikki has even included the house button for this project.

You'd be crazy not to enter so get on over to Vikkis Blog, Sew Useful designs and get your entrys in.

Just scroll down to the post 'Are you ready for a giveaway' Vikki has an awesome blog so spend a bit of time there having a look around, it really is worth it!

Sewing time with Melly and Me

The last week and a bit has been so hectic trying to get everything ready for the launch of 'Among the Gumtrees' that it was really nice to slow down today and get a bit of sewing done!

I bought Melly & Me's new book Kaleidoscope when it first came out some months ago and have been dying to make my little man the adorable 'Melvin the Moose'. I haven't quite finished him yet, so he is still 'noodie rudie' and is in need of some little overalls.

I will get to them tomorow I hope, my hubby and I are still argueing about whether to give him Red overalls (my choice and very cute) or Denim overalls with red patches, any suggestions? Anyway I thought I'd give you a sneek peak. (sorry about the pics, but it's late here in Aus)

This is the first softie I have ever made, so he's not totally perfect and I really learned the value of clipping those curves, but I'm really happy with him. I can see my little man walking around dragging him by his antlers. :) By the way my LM is very small for his age, so Melvin is pretty much the same height as him heheheMelly and Me have just released a new pattern for Leon the Lion, He is so cute and my niece is totally obsessed with The Lion King after seeing the stage show in America earlier this year. So with her birthday coming up next month I think Leon is my next softie project :)

No 1. neice is having a simba party for her 3rd birthday, Any ideas for party games would be most welcome :)

Till tomorow when I will tell you about another giveaway from one of my fellow nutters, Nighty Night.

UPDATE: By the look of a few comments I mustn't have made it very clear that Leon the Lion is a pattern by Melly and Me and I have just ordered it from Fabric Patch

Also Hubby is very disappointed that there are not more votes for Denim :) He thinks you guys are bias and is considering banning me from blogging. As if he ever could hehe.

Over 110 Followers and Vicki's Giveaway

I am filled with an overwelming sense of gratitude! I have more than doubled the amount of people who are now following my blog! I don't even mind that I had to bribe you to do it. hahaha

Katrina was my 110th visitor, that meant that I had double the amount of followers since the Launch of Among the gum trees. I don't think any of us nutters (is that the correct english, my dad would be horrified hehe) expected this reaction! It is simply incredible, so I felt so happy that I sent Katrina a copy of my Busy Bees Tea Cut Carrier PDF. I sell it in my Etsy store and it has been quite popular, so I hope she like it.

Onto the other exciting news of the day, have you been to look at my fellow nutters blogs? I will be telling you about each and every one of them every couple of days, so don't think you have to enter each one today, we are giving you until the 30th of September to get your entries in and the winners will be drawn on the 1st.

Today I would like to tell you about Vicki's Giveaway over at Tozz's Corner!

She is being very generous and is offering a huge pile of prizes. You could win 5 beautiful FQ's, and a christmas table mat that sounds unreal! Vicki made it with cinnamon inside, so when you put a warm casserole on it, you get the lovely scent through your home, how good does that sound. You'll also recieve a pin cushion that Vicki made. To top it all off you will receive 2 Aussie magazines, one of them is the cushions and bags collection, I have that one myself I have made two of the bags in it, so trust me you won't be disappointed!

So thats it for me tonight, I hope you have had as much fun as we have over the last few days and keep coming back for more!

Giveaway to celebrate the Gum nuts!

To celebrate the lauch of our wonderful new site, Among the gum trees, by the 9 gum tree designers, each of us are having a giveaway!!

There is 9 amazing prizes on offer from quilt kits to gorgeous patterns and so much more!!

So what will I be offering you my lovely readers? Well as we have a rather Aussie theme happening here I thought I would offer you some patterns from my favourite Aussie designer Annie Downs of Hatched and Patched fame! Annie is an amazing designers who combines stitcherys with applique and quilts and wool felt and any other technique you can imagine. So first up is this gorgeous Quilt pattern of Annies Christmas strippy quilt.Isn't it just gorgeous!! I will also include in my little prize pack a pattern and fabric kit of this adorable Chickadee pincushion! This includes pretty much everything you need to make an adorable wool felt pincushion! I am going to have to get one of these for myself, It's just too cute!Anyway here is what you have to do to enter, easy really, you've probably already done some of it. I would like you to become a follower of both mine and the Among the gum trees blog, if you do this you will get 2 entries. For another entry all you have to do is put our button on the sidebar of your blog. Sorry if you don't have a blog, but we have to draw the line somewhere.

Anyway thats it! 3 chances to win! When you have done all that just pop back and leave me a comment telling me how many entries you are entitled to and your in! (keep in mind there is 9 of us, so we will be checking!) :)

Heres our button and the link to attatch to it

http://gumtreedesigners.blogspot.com/

Good Luck!

Oh and don't forget that my Lifes a Hoot BOM started yesterday, I'd love to know what you think, just click on the free patterns button to be taken to my freebies site and download the PDF's

Oh what fun this has been, was it worth the wait?

Thank you everyone for your comments I read each and every one and love looking at your blogs, I really have to turn this computer off at some stage today, my family think my laptop is permenantly attatched to my knees :)

Today is the day!

Well the day is finally here!

We are so excited to announce the launch of our brand new blog Among the Gumtrees!


In a (gum) nut-shell, this it’s what we’re all about:

We are a group of Australian designers who love to share, so we will regularly offer FREE designs for you to use for your personal use. Aren't we nice :)

Among the Gum Trees is the brainchild of Jenny of ELEFANTZ, who has brought together nine established and emerging designers to offer something new and exciting to the world - their own original designs – free of charge!

Free of charge?! Are we mad?! Well, no we’re not insane, but we do affectionately refer to each other as “the nutters”, and we look forward to sharing our designs, our news, and our ‘nutty’ journey with you through the gum trees!

Starting on Monday 5th October and each Monday for the next eight weeks, there will be a FREE Christmas-themed DESIGN for you to download. (feel free to grab this button for your blog).
Then after Christmas, we will be giving away a free design just for you every month! You will get a free pattern from each designer, in turn. So, one free design every month for you to use for your personal use, but thats just from the 'Among the gum trees blog', become a follower of each of our blogs because we regularly give away free patterns, just because we can. :)

So if you want to check out our new blog you will get a quick run down about each of us, and if you click on our pictures you will find a full profile about each of us, so you have lots of reading to do today, you can also check out our blogs by clicking on the buttons on the 'Among the Gum Trees' blog.

As well as the free designs, you will also receive monthly news from our 'Head Nut" Jenny and notification of all new for-sale pattern launches. The only thing we ask of YOU… is to please spread the word! Let’s see how far those gum nuts can fall from the trees!

Because we are a generous bunch of nuts, we are EACH HAVING A GIVEAWAY to celebrate the launch of Among the Gum Trees. And you can enter them all! But because we have become so good at teasing… we will be launching our giveaways tomorrow!!!

So in the meantime please start spreading the word and add our ‘Among the Gum Trees’ and 'Christmas Freebie' button to your side bar of your blog!

Part 2:

Now onto the other exciting news from me today, I am launching my Block of the Month, 'Life's a Hoot'.

My BOM will work much the same as most others in that my designs will go up for free in the first month and then will be available in my etsy shop if you miss any. The difference with my BOM is that I want you to have time to finish your project in time for Christmas, so the first block will only be up until the end of September, with block 2 coming out on the 1st of October.

'Life's a Hoot' is a 4 part BOM and so you will get the last piece of the puzzle on the 1st of December, so if your a quick worker you can be finished in time for christmas. You will have finished a really cute wallhanging with 4 Owl Stitcherys! Here is what 'part 1' looks like..

I can't wait to see what yours looks like!

Just click on the photo to be taked to my site which is home to all my free patterns. There you will find 3 files, Part 1, is your embroidery instructions and some helpful tips for beginners, you'll also find the pattern and your fabric requirements.

I'd love to know what you think, so leave me a message. If you are interested I will also set up a Flicker page for all the 'hootin good projects' hehe.

So was it worth the wait? Grab a coffee because you've got soooo much to see today! Don't forget to come back tommorow for my giveaway!

Exciting News!

OK, it's not the news your all waiting for, but my little man took his first steps today!

Even though this is my 3rd bubba, it is no less exciting that first time!

That other news is not far away now, less than 24 hours to go.

Big announcement!

Ok Ok I've made you wait long enough!

But I still can't tell you what is going on :) sorry... hehehe Don't you just love secrets!! I sure do! I can never normally keep them, but I must keep this one!

Anyway, what I can tell you is the 'Life's a Hoot BOM' will be launched on Tuesday the 15th Aussie time

There will be another pretty big thing happening on that day too! There is a countdown in the side of my blog. I wonder how many of the countdowns you can find in the blogging world, just for fun of course!

So there you go, I have given away one part of the secret! Told you I'm hopeless at keeping secrets ;)

BOM Button - Life's a Hoot!

Ok so here it is! The button for my free BOM which is not far away now! Just .... more sleeps!

I would really love it if you would like to put this button on you blog!

Blogland is going 'Nutty'! It won't be long now and all will be revieled! Don't forget to click the follow button so you will be one of the first to find out about the big news! Trust me it's Big!

I Love Happy Mail

A few days ago Jenny of Elefantz gave a plug to the shop Bella & Vintage My Credit Card will take a little while to forgive me! :)

My bonuses for renewing my Homespun and Quilters companion Magazines also arrive today. What a fantastic mail day!

I bought three gorgeous patterns and 8 yards of stunning fabric, I'm so excited and the packaging was just stunning! She even included a thank you card. I highly recommend you check out the website. Absolutely fantastic service and to receive your order gift wrapped is an awesome little surprise. With my Homespun renewal I recieved the Scisseroo scissors. I've been wanting them for ages, and a Ironing/Cutting mat, I've also wanted one of them for ages I'm one happy girl today!

Do you see the little Turtle on the cover of Homespun, how gorgeous is that! Just another project to add to the christmas list, my 3 year old will go nuts for him. His little legs and head both retreat into their shell! Just gorgeous!

Tommorow I will be giving you the new button for my BOM, Not too long now, just ...... more sleeps and all will be revealed! :)

I started this cutie yesterday and finished her up today. We have finally gotten a new bookshelf for all my magazines, so I 0f course started filling it up with my little stitchery's :)

Tease, Tease, Tease Its so exciting :)

I actually got out of the house over the weekend, Mum and I went for a drive to my favourite fabric shop to pick out some fabrics for the BOM.

Here's just a little teaser for you:

Hope that wets your appetite, and gets you excited about it.

"Give me a home among the gumtrees" sorry that songs just been going through my head for days :)

Ok so the BOM start date is not too far away now, still a surprise because it will be launched at the same time as..... oops I forgot, it's a secret hehehe.

New look!

I have decided to have a change, the black background of my blog was getting a little hard to look at. :) I hope you like the new look!

I also have some exciting news! I will be starting a free BOM (block of the month) very soon. Make sure you hit the follow button so you don't miss the start. This will be a fairly quick one so you may even have it finished for Christmas. This will be a perfect project for anyone who is new to quilting, patchwork and embroidery, and for the more advanced a nice quick project which is perfect for a lovely gift.

More details in the next few days so stay tuned! :)

Oh yeah and check out my boys! Go the eels!

Free Embroidery Teddy hug pattern Hug Swap

Ok So following on from yesterday, as promised here is the second embroidery pattern for the Hug Swap. I had so much fun designing and stitching these up and they were so quick to do! I had them finished in 1 day each!

And here they are together all finished and ready for me to send off to my swap partner. Oh I forgot to mention yesterday, I have always avoided Metallic threads like the plague because they shread and are generally just a pain in the neck to use, but I wanted the fairy wings and dress and shoes to sparkle so I gave it a go, one little tip I have is to use a massive needle! I used a needle which is about the thickness of a tapestry needle, but it has a sharp point. I don't know what size it is I'm sorry because I got it in a pack, but the pack was a Milliners needle pack sizes 3/9 and it was the second or third biggest. It does make big holes but as long as you don't need to unpick your stitches, you should be good because the holes close up enough to be invisable when your finished. I hope that makes sense and I haven't confused you greatly.

All this giving has put me in the giveaway mood, so I'm thinking about doing a free Mystery BOM. What do you think? Do you want it to be a mystery or would you like to see the whole project first? The other question I have for you today is would you like it to be put into a quilt, a wallhanging, something else or just the Owl designs so you can do what you like with them?

Also on a really happy note, I got an email yesterday from the editor of Handmade Magazine and my Sewing Machine cover that I designed and made for Jenny's August Challenge will be featuring in the Mothers Day issue next year! Yeah!! I'm very excited! I also have my first project coming out in Handmade in December's Kids Special! I'm feeling a bit special *BG*.

Till next time, Hugs P xxx

Hug Swap Free Embroidery Fairy Pattern Giveaway!

I have decided to join Jenny of Elefantz in her Hug Swap!
You can find all the details on Jenny's Blog, just click on this picture!


It's a fantastic idea and so I decided to design my own patterns for it and offer them to you for free. The first of my designs is a little angel, who works in the Hugs Department, which of course is always open. As this design is for Jenny's swap and she loves her roses I decided to put a few of them in too. This design is for the gorgeous little Mug Hug that Jenny and Vicki from Tozz's Corner designed for the swap. Jenny has a full tutorial with photos on how to make it on her blog.

I have another pattern for you tommorow for the Mug Mat, I just have to finish the stitchery. This time some gorgeous litle teddy's, so make sure to hit the 'follow' button so you don't miss out on it. These patterns will only be available until the end of the swap and then will be available from my etsy shop.

I hope you enjoy my freebies!

Hugs Paula xxx