Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells...

This is our 2006 Christmas card! My friend Rosie (from Rosalie Quinlan Designs as well as Melly and Me)have been having loads of Christmas fun making these cards! Every year we spend a day or two together making Christmas cards for our customers.

As always, it started with a grand and very complex design. By the time we made it to the shops for supplies it had become A6 size (mini and cute!)and quick to put together! As the day progressed yesterday (and our friend Tracey dropped in with a few bottles of lovely white wine from the Margaret River Region - note: Rosie and I would be very happy to come and teach in this region!)things did not get finished! So today while Rosie has been busy with Melly I am here finishing the cards! I have had lots of fun. Hope you like it.

We've used: A6 size plain white cards, 'Autumn Leaves' clear stamps swirls v.2 by Rhonna Farrer, red ink, Ki memories pink stripe paper (joyful lights), adhesive rhinestones by K&CO Brenda Walton, and a good splash of Christmas Cheer!

Hope you're inspired,

Leanne and Rosie

(see what Rosie and Melly are up to at www.mellyandme.typepad.com)

We will get it all done...

Okay girls, yes I know - It's officially less than one month before Christmas!!! So we're frantic, we're panicing, HOW WILL WE GET IT ALL DONE?

You know what - every year we seem to get there, so let's take a breath, and 'enjoy the journey'.

Think about all the other women you know, and those that you don't, right around the world, feeling the the same thing. Wanting to get those presents done, unique and precious, and made from the heart presents.

Tonight I've been with my friend Melinda to our 'big' patchwork group, 'Waverley Patchworkers'. We had over 160 women there tonight. (That's a really big Kris Kringle). Show and tell was full of 'yet to be bound presents for Christmas'. There was a joke about some of them being stitched at midnight on Christmas Eve. I know that as I sit on Christmas Eve and stitch that binding on myself there will be hundreds of other women, all over the world, doing exactly the same thing - what a wonderful thought.

Stitched with my hands, given with my heart,

Leanne Beasley

Few days at the beach!

I'm back! I've had a wonderful few days at the beach in Phillip Island (Victoria, Australia). The weather was beautiful (and I have a sunburn to prove it!). Here's the beach:

To remember the road trip I spent this morning doing this:

I took a favorite vase and filled it about 1/3 full of sand. I've then added a nice big candle in the centre and surrounded it with bits from my beach collection! Now I can remember my great road trip everytime I look at it!

Where's your favorite beach spot?

Do you like 30's?

While having a few days off I've been working on a quilt for my own home - my Block of the Month Quilt - Leanne's House Block of the Month. If you'd like to see the original have a look in the left hand column for a photo and click on it for a full page version. Thought I'd share the blocks I've done so far, Blocks 1 to 4.

Block One:

Block Two:

Block Three:

Block Four:

I really love playing around with the 30's reproduction fabrics. Do you like 30's?

What do you love about Sundays?

Hi friends,

I got up at 6am this morning, as the sun was coming up over the forest, and my garden looked too inviting to stay out of. Out I went enjoying the peace of an early morning. Rohan off to play golf, Georgia still tucked up fast asleep, wrapped up in her quilt. There is something magical about this time of the day in the garden. Here' some of the cuttings I made:

Some of my roses. I left the rain damaged petals on to remind me to be grateful for the rain during this time of drought. I think they look beautiful on an antique doiley. I wonder who stitched it?

Some of my herbs and fruit...

There's always something in the garden to make a bunch of flowers. For beauty and fragrance try mixing herbs into your flowers. All I've done here is to pick some sage (it happens to be flowering right now), some rosemary, and a few branches of blueberries (why not? the birds get to enjoy them more than us anyway!). I'll use some of the sage leaves for tonight's dinner later - pan roasted chicken wrapped in sage and proscuitto. Oh how I LOVE Sundays!

What do you love about Sundays?...

On my day off...

Well the new book has gone to the printer so I'm having a few days off! Of course I could clean the house, pay the bills, start Christmas shopping, but no, I decide to start painting!

I've NEVER done any painting before and I thought that I'd have a go. My Mum is an excellent painter (my home is full of her divine originals)so I kind of figured that if she could do it so could I. Well let me say that today, I found respect for my Mum on a whole new level! It is so much harder than I ever imagined! Anyway I had a ball and here's the result:

Because I really love mixed media I also used some stitching using my collection of DMC perle 8 thread and a really nice starfish that I had in my collection.

I now have something to hang in the main bathroom that co-ordinates beautifully. Think I'll leave the real painting to Mum...

P.S. I got the idea for this canvas from an English magazine with an editorial about Graham & Brown's hand painted canvases. I was inspired by Janet Bell 3.

And the winner is...

Let me start by saying a BIG 'thankyou' to everyone who posted a vote re: the front cover of 'Romancing the Road Trip', and all of you who emailed me too. I kept a running tally and the winner is....

Cover number 2 !

So it's off to the printer tommorow and it will be instore 1st December!

I hope that you will have endless hours of fun with 'Romancing the Road Trip'. It's suitable for beginners or the accomplished with projects for everyone. There's everything from quilts and bags to journals and fabric postcards.

For easy use the book is spiral bound and the pattern pages are single sided, so that you can simply flip to the patterns you need and trace them.

So pack your bag... we're going on a road trip. P.S. Don't forget the chocolate.

Which cover?

Proof reading 'Romancing the Roadtrip' and I need your help! I have six covers to choose from but I LOVE THEM ALL! Which is your favorite? Let's vote. To let me know which one you love simply click on 'comments' and leave your vote.

Covers One, Two and Three:

Covers Four, Five and Six:

You can vote up until Thursday the 16th November, 2006. Then it's off to the printer!

Leanne!

Free bag pattern!

What a fabulous day today! The sun was shining on a beautiful warm Spring day here in Ferny Creek. I have finished writing 'Romancing the Roadtrip' (just one final proof read next week!). I forgot about the housework and made four bags instead! Best of all I had a wonderful time at a Quilter's Christmas Party tonight - lots of wonderful ladies (including my Mum!). My friend Gail (you'll meet Gail in the new book) presented me with a huge bunch of glorious Australian Native flowers for (finally) finishing the book. Thanks Gail, they're beautiful!

Anyway the bag in the photo, 'The Easiest Bag You'll Ever Make' is so much fun to do that I can't wait until the book comes out to share it with you. If you click on 'Free Pattern' you will be able to whip one up in about an hour!

Happy sewing,

Leanne xxx

What's in your bag?

Okay I confess, I'm finished with (most of)the book but still stitching! All my originals end up in the shops as samples and I loved the 'Broome Markets Bag' so much I had to have one for myself! I had just enough fabric to make one exactly the same as the sample and I love it. It is the perfect size for all my handbag bits! I carry so much stuff in my handbag (apart from my stitching) and it all fits!

What's in your handbag right now?