Fun, fun, fun...

My friend Chris  was visiting again, and we made sure we had lots of fun while she was here. it started with a visit to the Malmsbury Viaduct, an old railway bridge near the Malmsbury gardens. The structure is quite imposing, and I thought is was a good backdrop for some astro-photography on a clear night. Since the weather was picking up, we planned to go there on Friday evening. We also managed to visit a couple of quilt shops, Mary's Path n Quilt in Gisborne, and Alice in Fabricland in Kyneton. We also had lunch in the re-opened Rupertswood Gatehouse in Sunbury, which was very nice.

Friday was a highlight, we visited the annual papercraft show, Paperific, at the Royal Showgrounds. Oh, we were in 7th heaven! It's not a huge show (about 40 stall holders), but one can spend ages just looking at exhibits, doing classes, and watching demonstrations. Not to mention the shopping! Oh, we were baaaad! We made a card, playing with different products such as waxes, shiny acrylics, beads, embossing powders. I renewed my interest and skill with stencils, which I hadn't used very successfully and was about to give up on.

Had a little haul of goodies, some craftboard items, stickers, wax and stamps, and some of Marlene's Art whimsical papers. A most satisfying day! But we weren't done yet - after dinner we packed up our camera gear and headed back to the viaduct. It was only 4C outside, so we were well wrapped up for our adventure. Chris helped me set up my camera, and the stars twinkled brightly for us. The moon was nearly full, so we didn't see all that many stars, but I'll go back another time when there's no moon. I learned a lot, and was rewarded with some ok photos, but it made me realise that my camera isn't the best for night photography. Better get the next lotto ticket...
On Saturday, a few of us (Chris, Jean, Christine, Sue, Tracee, Jill and Alleyne) headed to Bacchus March, where the BM Quilters had their annual Quilt-In. It was a fun day, and the speaker was Margaret Mew, who showed her many reproduction style quilts, which were exquisite. Bought some gorgeous wool and a few bibs and bobs. Morning and afternoon tea was provided, and the organising ladies had four different and yummy soups on offer

for lunch. I really enjoyed the day, and didn't have to cook in the evening, as we went to the Riddells Creek pub for dinner. Afterwards, Chris showed me how to edit my night photos in Lightroom, which inspired me to use this program more often.
Sunday we had a slow start, and spent the day in the Owlery, having fun making cards. Chris showed me how to make a complex folding card, which I was quite chuffed about. Then I showed her how to make a star card, and we made some Christmas cards using a sweet little snowman stamp. We broke for lunch up at the Trading Post on Mt. Macedon. We tried out some of our purchases, with Chris making more cards while I worked on a new project involving puzzle pieces (more to follow) and continued crocheting my second shawl.
Sadly, Chris had to leave us again this morning, but I figure she'll be back in the not too distant future and look forward already to another catch-up!