Freshening up in 2019 and some more pincushions...

In between housework, a migraine and working to get my shop set up on Etsy I've been giving my blog a nice makeover...a fresh, fun and pretty makeover which I gave considerable thought to as I don't want to change it again. 

This 'season' of partially enforced change stirred within me a desire to create a touch of permanence here at Elefantz, one which is flowing over to the new pattern covers soon to appear as I gradually update the old ones. 

It will take a good month to complete the move from Craftsy to Etsy as I have many patterns to update so I want to do it right the first time and not have to go back and change things later (hence the bright and cheery logo which has become my new blog header) and in fact that's one of my three attitude and response guidelines for 2019 - "do it right the first time and don't cut corners"

The other two are "trust that God is in the details" and "put everything back in its place".

GENTLE DOMESTICITY in 2019

You know I've intentionally pursued the gentle domestic life for a number of years now, and as we set forth into a fresh new year I've decided to take the book which first stirred my heart and lead a book study here on the blog beginning Tuesday January 8th and running through to mid December.

Every so often my friend Fee will post on her blog to share some thoughts, projects or ideas inspired by the book, and occasionally my sweet daughter Blossom will offer her own insights from life as a stay at home mummy with two little girls. I'm also going to see if my friend Rosie will pop by as we have long shared deep coffee-fueled conversations about domesticity, marriage and family. 

In case you've missed all the book information, we're going to study and discuss Jane Brocket's "The Gentle Art of Domesticity". The book is not easy to find as a hard copy anymore, but some have been found on Amazon and Ebay, local libraries, and you can always get the Kindle version.

NOTE: you don't need the book to follow along this year long study.

I'll also have a monthly giveaway with a fun domestic theme so make sure to sign up for my blog posts which will arrive via email and then you won't miss any of the studies or activities.

(pop your email over there in the blog sidebar or sign up here for my weekly newsletter)

You might consider joining our Gentle Domesticity Facebook group too!

You'll find it here.

This Year's BOM

Well, it's not actually a block of the month. It's a project of the month which ties in with our gentle domesticity theme.

I'll have the first freebie ready for you with the launch of our book study on Tuesday 8th January.

The project patterns will be free for one month, right up till the next month's project pattern is shared. Another good reason to sign up for my newsletter or blog posts, right?

LINK PARTY

This year I'm inviting you to share what's happening in your own domestic life by joining in each Tuesday with a link up to your personal blog. This really excites me because we home-hearted women are all very different so we can learn a lot about one other and from one other by visiting each other's blogs for inspiration, recipes, projects and anything else deemed gently domestic.

I'll have that Link Up button ready to share on Tuesday!

Okay, now how about I share those pincushions!

The Friday before Christmas you received the patterns for Q, U and T so that by using the previously shared I and L you could make the QUILT pinnie...

Today I'm giving you R and S so that we're back in sequence because my OCD-ness requires things go in order and I had a dreadful time waiting to share the next two so that my mind could once again settle into a peaceful state...

I have given R a very soft display with calming greens, salmon pink and white cotton lace.

The little heart is a single strand chain stitch and the rest of the R has been sewn with backstitch.

In the ditch between the R block and the borders I've sewn stem stitch with two strands of the soft green thread...

...and after machine sewing the lace diagonally either side of the R I stitched a line of green chain stitch. 

As with all the pincushions made during this Stitch-a-long this one has been filled with crushed walnut shells which you can purchase in the reptile section of your local pet shop.

It will keep your pins sharp and rust free, plus it feels absolutely lovely in your pinnies!

The second pincushion this week is S...

...and it's a tiny square with a soft pink ribbon which turns it into a very pretty and useful scissor fob.

The S block is trimmed to 2.5" square and then I added 1" borders around the four sides. Everything I make is sewn with a 1/4" seam so once the pinnie is complete it measures a nice neat 3" square.

The flower petals are lazy daisy stitch and there's a colonial knot in the middle. The S and the leaves are backstitched in green.

The double pattern for R and S can be download free until January 31st here or here

The previous four monthly sets - ABCDE, FGHI, JKLMN, and OPQUT are now available for purchase here in my Etsy Shop.

Do you need help with backstitch, lazy daisy stitch or how to sew with smaller stitches? 

I get a number of emails about this and always refer them back to THIS tutorial which I shared a few years back (it also has a free practice pattern).

BACK AT HOME....

Mr E has been busy removing the structures around his shed which the building inspector deemed non-compliant when we bought the house...

The small shed at the front has to go, as does the covering down the side between the large shed and the fence...

The roofed section behind the large shed is also going to be removed as the materials the previous owner used to construct it are not cyclone proof. The yellow pool filter enclosure is fine, thank goodness...

In the garden we've discovered a native passionfruit vine which is trailing from next door's huge bottle brush tree over our fence and all through one our three guava trees...

These passionfruit are very small, like a 20c piece, and very different from the normal passionfruits you buy at the grocers. But our neighbour assures us they are edible so we look forward to trying them.

After Mr E emptied the compost heap into one of our garden beds we had a lot of rain from the cyclone just before Christmas and now three cucumber plants have made an appearance and are happily thriving shaded by bottlebrush, mock orange and guava trees. In the tropics we can't usually grow many vegetables in the summer as they simply burn to pieces under the scorching sun, but we'll see how these go in the dappled shade. Our warm winter is the peek vegetable season which probably seems strange to most people.

The Ixora has burst forth in resplendent red after the rain...

...as has the Crepe Myrtle.

I have loved Crepe Myrtle since I parked next to it at Rosie's a number of years ago and to have one of our own in flower is a blessing I'd not expected. With each week that passes I am learning the names of more plants right here in our garden and am always surprised that some I have long admired are right before me.

The poinciana which spreads over the pool has lost all it's vibrant red flowers but now the leaves have filled out and their lush green is a delight to behold.

The rain has also given the lily pilly and hibiscus trees astonishing growth in a mere two weeks.

And as I said earlier we have three guava trees and all are fruiting!

One is a pineapple guava...

...and the other two are what I'd call a regular guava.

Rosie and her hubby Brian came by today for morning tea and a nice long catch up. They are avid gardeners and it was wonderful to pick their brains about things like guavas (because I have never even tasted one and thought they may be the size of a rockmelon, which in fact they are most certainly not).

Tomorrow Mr E and I are off to check out a few garage sales, something we've not done for a while but are keen to get back to.

I do hope your own weekend brings an adventure or two, and a friend or loved one to share it with.

May your rest be blessed, your eyes awed by creation's wonder, and your heart filled with song...

hugs

Fresh starts...

Out front there is a huge white buttercup bush (properly named a Turnera) and each morning it is where scores of bees stop on their daily pollen shopping spree.

I tried to capture a photo close up but the bees are swift and refused my pleas for a portrait, so I've just zoomed in closer for you to see one of the buzzing beauties at work. Makes me happy knowing our garden has many bee, butterfly and bird friendly blooms.

So here we are on January 1st with a new year before us, untouched and unexplored.

As I mentioned the other day the pre-Christmas Craftsy changes have definitely put a speed bump in my path and though I'm quite accepting and relaxed about it all I do now have a lot of extra work to do setting up a new online pattern shop at Etsy and updating all my patterns due to their expired links - not how I'd hoped to spend the summer holiday school break with my teacher husband.

So I'm not going to kick off the 2019 year of gentle domesticity with it's associated book study, free patterns and regular homemaking blog posts until next week. Right now I just want to go for a couple of long country drives with my beloved and gather my thoughts, pray and set up a shop. 

In the big scheme of life another week won't hurt anyone, but it will give hubby and I time to explore the countryside and enjoy some time out from the recent festivities, home/garden renovations and work.

Do you remember when I stitched this design last year? It was just before we moved into our home and my plan was to hang it in the kitchen once I'd decided how to finish it.

A couple of weeks ago I finally did just that...

The floral fabric is cut from a sturdy tea towel and I blanket stitch appliqued the "Simple Way" stitchery block onto the front before hemming around the towel edges and enclosing one end to allow a quilt hanger to be inserted. 

I haven't hung much in the house yet because I'm still finding my way around and discovering my style...something I thought I knew but which seems to be a little different than I'd imagined.

However, this simple wall hanging has given my decorating mojo a nice kick start and in coming months you'll see more and more of what I do within these walls for beauty and inspiration.

Lately, those stitched words "the simple way is usually the best way" hanging right where I see them all day long (I am in the kitchen a lot) has helped to relax my thoughts so that I let go of the 'too many' plans which try hard to crowd my mind. As a women who likes to keep her word, work to a routine, not let anyone down and follow through on her commitments, it's not easy for me to stop and remember than I can delay some things, change my mind sometimes, or let go when plans simply cannot be seen through to the end. 

But I read those words and there's a sweet peace that sits upon my spirit, so I look at the day or week before me and consider "what is the simple answer to this or that situation?" - and you know, an answer, a simple answer comes to mind quite soon after.

The pattern is available here in my Etsy Shop and over the coming month I'll have many more available there as it's my new PDF pattern home. But slowly...one thing at a time.

Blossom came by with the girls today and it was extra special because they got to play with Poppy. They don't see him as often as they see me because he's at work most of the time when they come by for the day, but Miss Cully May adores her Poppy so when he's around she gives me a quick hug and then runs off to be his little shadow for the day. 

Blossom and the girls bring such joy to our home...

Whilst hubby is on holidays he has made some changes to my sewing room so that I can create and work more efficiently. Firstly, his Christmas gift to me was a wonderful height adjustable table where I can sit and sketch new designs as well as prepare them for stitching. I cannot tell you how much easier it is to work in the sewing room now!

I can lower the table when I'm sitting and then lift it higher for project preparations.

The room is a mess right now because I'm in the process of rearranging things but with the new table AND the shelving he built the other day...

...I can now plan this bright and cheery work space to suit my business needs.

This coming Friday I'll be sharing two alphabet pincushions with you, the R and the S to bring us up to date (as I've already shared the T)...

The links to download the QU and T letters are still valid and will stay that way until Thursday night. You'll find them in this blog post.

Craftsy removed the three previous sets of alphabet patterns so I'll be adding them to my Etsy Shop in a few days in case you missed any. 

There are still 22 patterns in my Craftsy Shop which the owners decided to leave there, though they removed 113 others. Now I know this is a pain for anyone who was working through "A Year in the Garden" because they removed the October, November and December patterns, so in the coming week I'll have all twelve of those blocks in my new Etsy Shop and will include the quilt finishing pattern with each of them.

On the sewing table at the moment I have a number of new patterns that I cannot show you yet (though you can see a few peeks over here on my Instagram page) and I need to finish a cover for my 2019 blog planner using this little design from last month's Stitchery Club...

I've never used a blog planner before but as I have a number of new things in store for you this year it occurred to me that this may well be a wise project to make.

SO FAR I can tell you this...

We're still working through the Alphabet Pincushions Stitch-A-Long each Friday and that will run through until February 22nd.

I will begin the book study of 'The Gentle Art of Domesticity' by Jane Brocket on Tuesday 7th January. The book is hard to track down these days but is available on Kindle by clicking here.
(I do not earn anything from this)

I will share the first free pattern/project in our 2019 Year of Gentle Domesticity on Tuesday 7th January.

The rest of this year's plans will be shared next week.

I send out a free newsletter each Friday and this year there will be a few 'extras' offered along the way so if you aren't receiving them already it's quite easy to pop over here and sign up!

May your year be blessed, your heart cheered, your mind clear and your paths made straight in these coming twelve months!

hugs

Letting go of the plans...

We have now seen another Christmas come and go and hopefully, like me, you shared that precious day of celebrating the birth of Jesus with those you love and cherish.

It’s the hearts whom we share that day with which matter most of all, and that is why I’ve always loved the saying ‘hearts come home for Christmas’. If only those emotions felt on the day could be carried with us the other 364 days of the year, like the warmth that fills our heart as we stand singing carols with a child’s arms wrapped round our waist. Wouldn’t the year be something rather special all the way through if we did? A thought to ponder.

With 2019 just days away I am taking some time to reflect on the year that has gone, the major and minor changes, challenges and blessings which came with it – and I’m praising God that He did not tell me about most of them until they happened because I would have worried over more than a few.

Whilst it is fun to plan forward at the start of a new year, it can also be a way of setting ourselves up for future disappointment if those hoped for plans do not come to pass, and for me, already this past week I have had to adjust the plans which I recently shared with you (here) due to an unforeseen event which will affect how I maintain and grow my embroidery design business.

So I went to the Word for guidance and reacquainted my heart with Jesus’ instruction to not worry about tomorrow because we have enough to concern ourselves with today. I believe He was drawing our thoughts to the moment at hand, focusing our mind on the needs of this day and giving them precedence over what may come to pass tomorrow. After all, none of us can truly be assured that what we want to happen next week, next month or next year will even eventuate.

So it is in light of Jesus’ directions that I have chosen not to be dismayed at what has transpired this week but to look on it as an opportunity to begin afresh in 2019 and to follow His lead along this now slightly altered business path to the newness ahead.

What about you?

Has life offered up a rocky path lately; have the plans you made for next year come to a grinding halt even before you got to sing Auld Lang Syne at the stroke of midnight on the cusp of 2019?

I encourage you to let go with grace that which was and to open your hands to what is yet to be, trusting Jesus will be there guiding, loving and instructing you as you face whatever changes are to occur. He loves you. His plans for you, for me, are always for the best even when we cannot understand them. For now we look through a glass dimly…but one day all will be made clear.

As we step into a new year, may I encourage you to hold tightly to all that breathes life into your world, all that brings goodness and light, and all the relationships you wish to cherish and nurture. Open your heart to what is yet to come and let contentment flourish during your season of waiting.

On the flip side, as chaff is sifted from wheat, let go of the unnecessary; the superfluous; the things that rob you from living your best life; the things that hinder a closer walk with Jesus, and those dreams which were not meant to be.

And dear ones, may the Lord lift your heart with a happier and more blessed New Year than you could have planned for. 

hugs

A special day...

Today is our 27th wedding anniversary and my beloved has cherished me even more than usual, though I did not think he could. 

Our anniversaries are always a very relaxed affair. Coffee and a drive around the beach in the early morning, a simple lunch at home, dinner by the ocean and then home to watch a good movie. 

We don't like fuss and though Blossom always wants to 'do' something for our special day we assure her we just want to be alone and relax, to savour the blessing of God that our marriage represents.

I made that little wedding mini-quilt a few years back and love it still, though nowhere near as much as I love the man I call 'husband'.

It's not been an easy year, indeed we've had six difficult years in a row, but we stood together through it all and when everything became too much we leaned closer to Jesus and let Him carry us until we could stand again. 

Marriage usually has arrows shooting from outside at one time or another, but when you pull close and let the Lord be your shield it's much easier to weather the battles and come out the other side.

I'm ever so grateful for Jesus, and thankful beyond words that He brought my beloved and I together.

We're about 24 hours away from discovering what Craftsy have done to the shops they have chosen to keep open, how many patterns will be on our shelves and what patterns have been removed.

I was uploading some new ones for next year but have now discovered any pattern I uploaded after December 19th will automatically be removed, no ifs or buts, so this will change what patterns and when I share them in 2019.

Tomorrow I'll discuss a few things in response to comments made here and on social media about listing patterns elsewhere, but for tonight I'm off to get ready for that dinner by the ocean with the love of my life...

God bless you always,

Nana, look at the star!

Cully May wasn't old enough last year to experience the awe of Christmas, and the year before she was just a wee babe herself...but this year is different.

Last night while both her little girls were sleeping my dear Blossom decorated their tree in preparation for Christmas, and when her precious daughters awoke at dawn this morning there was only one thing they wanted to see.

Fascinated, they watched the twinkling lights of the dark tree glistening with gold and gasps of delight filled the room.

When hubby and I visited after breakfast dear Cully May met us at the door, and with the exuberance of a two year old who is so excited that her words tumble over one another, she breathlessly and insistently lead us inside to gaze in wonder at the most marvelous tree she has ever seen.

"Nana, look at the star! Look at the star, Nana!"

Lifted up into my arms we did indeed look at the sparkling golden star, and as I whispered into her ear "that's the Star of Wonder, Cully May" she smiled wide and hugged me tight.

Christmas is indeed a time of wonder, a day of glory given to the newborn King.

It is a time to rejoice with exceedingly great joy when we join together and celebrate the coming of the Christ Child, the most perfect gift given to man.

Just as my sweet 2 yo granddaughter stood in awe of that big golden star shining bright atop her tree, so let us bow in awe of the baby born in a manger under a far more radiant star over two thousand years ago. A baby who was and is God.

A baby who came to save the world and died in order that His purpose be fulfilled.

God bless you this Christmas tide,

hugs

Jenny and family.

xxx

A special pincushion and some not so good news...

I'll begin with the good stuff, yeh?

When I was considering what sort of pincushion to make for Q and U it seemed fairly obvious.

Those two letters go together like butter and toast so why not use them to create a rather lovely pincushion for those who like to quilt?

I had a very small piece of elegant cream floral fabric leftover from my Robyn Pandolph phase many years ago and married with cream cotton lace it was only a matter of choosing thread colours to sew a very special pinnie for you this week...

To be honest, I've stitched a number of words using my alphabet pattern in the past but I do really love this one the most (so far).

I chose two Cosmo Seasons variegated threads to keep the overall appearance soft and simple.

Sooo, guess what!?

This week I'm giving you the Q, U and T as your free download!

I and L have already been shared and are now part of the $2 sets you'll find here in my shop.

Here's the diagram for my new pinnie but you'll also find it in the pattern for reference later.

Download the triple pattern for Q, U and T here or here until January 3rd as a free gift.

The link to download patterns for O and P can be found if you scroll through my blog for the previous two Fridays. They are also free until January 3rd.

The pattern sets for A-E, F-I and J-M are $2 each here in my shop.

Pincushion BREAK

I won't be sharing an alphabet letter or pincushion idea next week as you received a triple blessing this week, but the first Friday in January I'll have R and S ready for you.

Now the not so good news.

Craftsy have decided to close many of the online pattern shops they have hosted for a number of years.

Fortunately mine is not one of them, however, they will be taking control of my shop and making changes that I will have no say in.

From December 28th they will be removing many of my patterns, their choices and not my own, and I will no longer be able to upload any new patterns or freebies until much later in 2019 - Craftsty have not given any dates for this except to say 'later in 2019'.

This is happening to all remaining Craftsy shops after December 28th, but I feel rotten for those lovely craft designers who have just been told their shops will close at the end of the year.

So here's my advice.

If you have purchased a pattern from my shop or any other shop make sure it has been downloaded to your computer and saved.

If you have had your eye on a pattern go to the relevant shop and purchase it now for the shop or the pattern may not be there from December 29th.

If you're after some of my freebies or any of my other patterns, go HERE to my shop and grab them now as I do not know which ones will go or which ones will stay. I will find that out on December 29th when I check what Craftsy have left on my shop shelves.

What has made me angry is being given just ten days notice that this will occur and not being allowed to choose which of my patterns to keep there and which to remove. I do not even know how many patterns are allowed only that they will be removing a lot.

Two close designer friends have caught up with me this afternoon and sadly one of them has lost their shop and this has huge ramifications for her. Fee still has one other shop, a new one with just one pattern, but it's her main shop which she's had for years that Craftsy have chosen to remove. If you'd like to check her patterns before the shop vanishes hop over here.

My other friend is Allie and like me she has no idea what patterns Craftsy will remove so if you'd like to visit her shop it is here. 

We're praying for wisdom in choosing a new path forward as we all work hard as self employed designers. 

I had more lovely things to share today but this rattled the cage a lot and as there's only a very small window of time before these changes take place I needed to tell you now.

God bless you, and just as I am doing, may your own troubles or anxieties be handed over to the Lord for He knows exactly what to do and can bring calm to the storms which tend to blow through our lives when we least expect them. 

Trust Him.

And breathe.

hugs