The Abandoned Cross-stitch, the best cake ever, and ancient history

 

 

Yay finally! The Abandoned Cross-stitch clutches are in MiuAndUmi! What a relief to get the ideas out of my noggin and into the shop. Now I can stop obsessing over them! I went through a brief phase of - shall we say - intense interest? Scouring op-shops, sewing until all hours, generally being a terrible wife and mother (oh, the shame). Meh, you know I don't care. I'm like the honey badger.

 



 



Say hello to the best cake ever. (According to the newly 8-year-old PomPom.) It was an epic production, wherein I displayed all the emotions a human is capable of, and possibly discovered a few new ones. It took. All. Day. But was worth it because of the delicious love I got in return. And ahem - Instagram/Facebook kudos which I lapped up like the shameless praise whore I really am.

Would you like to see me giving it out indiscriminately on Instagram? I'm melanieshmelanie.

 

 

Terrible photo quality, I know, and I just love that I managed to capture the one corner of the kitchen where the tiles are still waiting for their grout... But none of that matters, because...

 

 





PINATA CAKE!!!!!!!!!

 



 

Did I mention that I also made rainbow cupcakes and threw a little party at the playground? Yeah.

 



 

 

Pink lemonade! I sugared the kids up real nice. Parties are fun, aren't they?

 

Oh, and while I think of it...

 



 

A good birthday for me. Not for the horse.

 

So May is now a fading memory, and I'm no longer able to say "but it's my birthday month" when I want to get my own way. I raised $200.60 for Kiss Goodbye to MS and feel proud of my contribution. I even made a celebratory collage. Impressed? I know I am.

 

 



I see red, I see red, I see red!

It's a lucky thing, I'm thinking, that I both like and own so much red. Wearing red every day, drumming up (some) funds to help Kiss Goodbye to MS, has seen me taking more selfies than I've ever taken before, and getting a weird amount of compliments about how smart I'm looking??!!

Perhaps I should wear red lipstick all the time? It's just so haaaaaarrrrrrrrd. (Boo hoo, all that checking and re-applying is terribly taxing.)

Anyways...

Yes! So far I've managed to raise $135 to go towards this very important cause. I know, to some, it may not seem like much, but if I'm uncomfortably honest with you, my shop has never made that much money in one month before. Nevvvvverrrrrrr. Um, not even close? So I'm wildly pleased! And crazy grateful to each person who made a purchase.

Especially this lady.

Thank you Em, you're the best.

So in amongst all this frantic self-photographing and garland making, I went out to a gig with my best guy and a rowdy bunch of extremely good-looking folk. We hit the Beetle Bar to catch Some Jerks, and as usual they made a lot of noise and forced us to dance with wild abandon. If you ever get a chance to catch these guys live, DO IT. Your ears and brain will thank you.

This track from their self-titled album is called So Long, and right now it's stuck in my head. Enjoy.

Kissing it goodbye

 

 

The first 8 days of May!

I'm wearing red every day of May to raise funds and awareness for Kiss Goodbye to MS, and donating 100% of my sales from Miu & Umi to this important cause. If you see something you'd like in the shop, know that with your purchase comes support for amazing research that could see more effective treatments and most importantly, a cure for Multiple Sclerosis.

Last month I was truly saddened by news of the death of Divinyls' lead singer Chrissy Amphlett, who lost her battle with breast cancer and MS. Ms Amphlett lived in our neighbourhood when we were kids, and Kirsty and I would stalk her in the supermarket, starstruck to see her shopping for groceries in her huge black suglasses. Growing up, we both loved her incredible fuck-you aura of rock posturing, appreciating that in Australian rock, chicks like her were supremely rare. She was tough and unapologetic and outrageously sexy, and probably could've taught young musicians a thing or two.

Kirsty's blog post on MS! The Musical talks about Chrissy Amphlett and MS, and affords a glimpse of her daily physical and emotional struggle. But somehow she still manages to be good-looking, hilarious and cool as shit? What's with that? She's pretty much the most mathematical person I know.

So, it's getting cooler and you know what that means... crochet, baby! I'm smashing out a bunch of heart garlands at the moment, and dreaming of big booty blankets and all the other cool stuff that can eventuate when hook meets yarn. If you'd like to order a garland, or have ideas for different colours, lengths, what have you, PLEASE let me know. That would be cool.

In other news - it's my birthday! Yay! Cue trumpets, confetti and balloons! Man, I'm getting so old, but I still feel like a spazzy teenager. What's with that?

I've already shared a giant Hershey Kiss with the kids (actually I nibbled the nub off the top, then the kids put their hands on it, and I know what they do with their little hands, ewwww, so the rest of the chocolate is now theirs. Too much knowledge is a burden.) But the best bit is that Cam gave me a frickin OVERLOCKERRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Words can't express how much I've yearned for this. I'm practically beside myself! Now I have to learn how to make underwear, and t-shirts, and all kinds of crazy stuff. Omigod you guys.

Just awesome. Thank you Chrissy Amphlett.

Space Cadet

So, I'm not expecting a call from NASA anytime soon, but I am, without a doubt, an honest-to-goodness space cadet. With the many thrills of May (the birthday month in my family), my birthday party at Ya Ya Bar, a computer on the fritz and a huge sausage sizzle for the Kiss Goodbye to MS appeal, it's been a blur.

I completely forgot that I had an article published in *bespoke* zine. Who forgets something like that??? And then I found a mention of my article on Her Library Adventures, a blog I really admire, so I ran around in circles for about two days, then forgot about that too! I think it may be time to focus on some memory exercises...

These are just a few images from the last month...

a walk around the lakes on the way to school on my birthday,

the gorgeous balloons I bought to match my party dress,

the absolutely gorgeous A Skulk of Foxes clock given to me by the absolutely gorgeous Buzzstop crew,

playing in the leaves,

the wildly overgrown view from my verandah, which I love even though I'm sure the neighbours are tutting in disapproval.