I MANAGED to get a few more of my op shop finds on to paper last week. This idea is developing and I think I’m getting into a groove. I did try one in watercolour, but didn’t find it quite as soothing as old-fashioned colour pencil.

I found this blouse in a Salvos and admit I had to ask two trendy young things shopping in the store whether it was too “old lady”. They gave it the thumbs up and after spying something similar on Dilly Dallas felt it OK to wear in public.

THE lovely Carolyn at Comfy & Cosy asked whether the penny eggs might actually be penny rugs. Well, it seems they are indeed. I’d searched on the internet for a reference to penny eggs, but couldn’t find one. Carolyn spotted the art form and I have since found a wealth of information about a craft I could well get into. I don’t have the patience for patchwork or quilting, but I could do this. I love the thrift of it. I love rag rugs and the idea of using remnants to create something practical and beautiful.

Photo source: Robyne Melia, of http://robynefmelia.blogspot.com/

I HAVE been stitching these penny eggs for years. I am determined to finish them and have them on display for Easter 2009. There are to be no new stitching projects until they’re done. I have no idea why they’re called penny eggs or where the tradition is from, but I’ve been calling them that for so long it hardly matters whether it’s right or wrong. See the lovely fabric from this generous blogger? It came with a toy pattern Mel offered after meeting Tea Towel Ted. Thank you, thank you. It’s taken me so long to acknowledge your generosity here, but it really, really is appreciated.

NO one has yet stopped sniggering to photograph me in my pantaloons, remodelled from op shop trousers. Undeterred I purchased this hot pink velvet number from the dress-up rack at a Lifeline store. I can see potential. I have unpicked the chiffon arms, no doubt added for a school musical or some such thing, and will shorten the skirt to above the knee. With my pistachio Holeproof Gelati Flavours, I am sure it will be the envy of all the girls.

DO you spy a small change to my side bar? Eeek, yes, that's right, there's a new link. Do I dare? Well, I will try. I can't promise anything as magical as I see here. I try not to look. It scares me that there are so many talented people out there. Here I go.

THIS brooch was made by my ma. She’s keen to make and sell them and I spent some time showing her Etsy and Made It when I visited earlier in the month. We tried to find something similar online for price and product comparison. All the materials are scavenged laces and ribbons, hand-dyed and handcrafted into the flowers, buds and petals. At the moment Mum is making the brooches for people who like them and, I think, is a bit nervous about asking for money for them. They’re just beautiful and take her a day of crafting to make. It’s a big ask, but if you could give us some clues about what they’re worth – hard to answer without fear of offence, I know, but we’d really like some clues and promise we won’t be offended at all. We’ve seen a variety of prices, material (and dare I say it, quality) online. It’s also very hard to get a feel for what we’re looking at. Mums blooms are quite big – as big as a real flower in most cases. If you’ve got some expertise in doing a product and price comparison, we’d love your thoughts. It’s a case of just putting it out there and seeing what we get back. Thanks in advance, you’re all swell.

PAPER is such a tactile fibre and I have an idea to craft a papier mache doll based on some of the drawings I did earlier this month. Tearing up the newspaper for my initial layers is meditative and before you know it the local rag is, well, rags.

WE drink a lot of tea in our house. Litres of it are thrown out over the garden each day. I let two pots of it go cold on the weekend and boiled four cups of cold, strong tea with a cup of vinegar to fix it and dyed a cotton doily that I’d snipped two medallions from. The cotton took the colour just as I’d wanted it to. I’m going to try the beetroot juice from canned beetroot next. Has anyone an idea of a good fixing agent? Salt? Vinegar? I’m trying to do it all with bits and pieces from the pantry. I do have dyers’ chamomile in the garden and it has self-seeded everywhere. When it flowers again I’ll see what colour it produces.

A LATE night doodle formed these little ladies, and a couple more besides. These are the doodles and the attempt to make a sassy lassy in a bikini into a cone-shaped model.