My WILD Girlie w/e ...

Like I said before I don't know where the time has gone especially in the last weeks... this last w/e I went to Lucy's for our Wild Girlie w/e. We were discussing Easter and were trying to work-out how long it was till then - for some reason I thought we had another w/e to go but here it is this coming w/e ... goodness, that means I need to get my skates on ... Fri after we arrived we all went for a walk up the Headlands & watch the waves ... gosh it is so relaxing, just sitting there, looking out to sea, gentle breeze blowing & your mind can just wonder ...

even the walk to & from the Headland is wonderful ...

Sat was shopping day so we set off to find a little place L had been to before called Mooball yes Moo Ball isn't that quaint ... somehow we took the wrong turn-off so decided we would go to Crystal Castle first. We always love Crystal Castle as they are always improving the place always something new happening ... this wonderful crystal has been put onto a plinth now and there are some new crystals just hanging about plus the water is flowing again at the Blessing Buddha.



Had a lovely mornin smoko [morning tea] there plus had a little look over the shop as you do ... ummmm Look what we found in the garden ... what a wee little fellow he is - that is my fingers behind.Then we went off to find Mooball which wasn't hard to find at all - the main road had been changed so we were there in no time flat. This quaint little town has about three shops in it and all the telegraph poles are painted up to a height of about 3 metres in white & black cow hide look ... and so are some of the shops. Why had we gone to this little village ... because there was a Patchwork shop there that had fabric that I had been un-able to buy here where I live. Myyy what a busy little well not really a little shop either but they were busy and they also had a class on where the ladies were making the most lovely patchwork jacket ... So after several purchases ... we were off back to the other big Fabric warehouse we went to last w/e ... do you think I may have been bitten by the fabric bug ... oh lordy what am I to do??? I forgot to take photos of Mooball but maybe next time I won't be quite so excited about the fabric on offer ... ha ha well we can only hope eh!
We did get in and do some sewing so I suppose that is a good thing ... I stitched another fabric collage postcard for our friend who has just had more eye surgery - it's in the mail so she should get it tomorrow or Thursday at the latest - I will show that tomorrow. L got in and made a large shoulder bag for a friend & then Sun she made three smaller shoulder bags for walking. I was very fortunate to be giving one of these - not that I walk but it will fit my money purse & cell phone in it or camera so will be very handy ... L has a great eye for matching fabrics ...

I wonder who has been to visit us ...

Lately when I get up in the morning I seem to find at least 1 or 2 shiny tracks on the garden path that weren't there the day before... well I found the culprit the other day ... and here it is ... just your ordinary garden variety type of snail...
What a shock, I couldn't make my camera work [it's only 7 mths old] & then to make matters worse the lens wouldn't go back in, so it's off at the camera doctor being fixed and could be a month without it. I took these photos with my cell phone but I now have a camera on loan as going without a camera is like without an arm - not good ... thanks for lending me your other camera L.

Where does the time go ....

Goodness knows where the time goes but it sure has a bad habit of moving on whether we are ready or not...
I had a great time at the Women's International Day event we went to even though it was more for the woman looking into education/work options. Lucy & I went on to do some shopping especially material shop shopping ... not far from where she lives is a big fabric warehouse with anything & everything you will even need or want to put with fabric ... ohhh myyyyy what a 'naughty' place that is for someone with no self-control ... ha ha
After all that we sure did need to have some sea air blowing through our heads so went for a walk up to the Headlands where L & M were undecided if they would cross the causeway on to the rocks where some folks were fishing...
when I saw these waves still coming in I was pleased they had decided this wasn't the day for doing this ... we all had a great day all in all - found heaps of info about different courses, places to visit, etc, got some great fabrics, have a walk on the beach & the wind in our hair...

International Women's Day

Let us all remember it is International Women's Day tomorrow and celebrate our sisterhood.

Fabric PostCard ...

I got another Crazy Stitched Fabric PostCard finished last night... now to prep some more ... hope you are all having a good week ...

Too much Blog Surfing ...

Over the last few weeks or so I think I've been doing far too much Blog Surfing - even getting a bit of a suntan & all ... I only go on for a wee while and before I know it it's lunchtime or teatime ... time just runs away from me but it is lots of fun and I've found so many interesting places to visit.
On one of these Surfing days I found Baumcat's site, through an Ozzie site too, and ohh what a visual delight it was to look at - all fabric & what we used to call fancy work stitches now I notice it being called crazy stitching. I had been working on applique' squares for Miss M. birthday quilt - don't mind doing a bit of needlework while watching TV with the old boy of a night ...[well he doesn't have any hair anymore for me to run my fingers through his curly locks ... ha ha] Anyway to get back to Baumcat's site she had these lovely little Crazy Stitched quilties? that she calls Inspirational/Healing mini quilts and "inspirational" they are. I wrote to Cat and I found her to be a very giving sole and has explained to me how she makes them. We have talked about what I should use and I've tried to work out equivalents from what I know in Oz. but I gotta say I need to get out more as there are so many new products out there I've never heard about or seen. Amazing how 'blind' we are to things that don't catch our 'tunnel vision' eyes at the time as I have been into PaperCrafts for so long now - nearly forgot I even did sewing once - so that is what the eyes see ... So I've been working away at giving my interruption of mini quilts - mine are the size of a PostCard. This is how I was inspired to join in the Pink Artist appeal by seeing it on other blogs who were into stitching plus papercrafts. Anyway here are my first two attempts... I didn't put batting or felt in between so it's all a bit flat but this is my learning curve at the mo...

Baumcat even recommended this site this morning and I'm blown away that there is such a machine called an Embellisher ... I tell you I need to get out more... Do check out Allie's site

Mr. Gecko or Mrs....

I love Geckos and we have a resident one inside our home who loves to catch moths etc around the kitchen light and then wonders up the hallway later in the evening. I've always referred to 'him' as Mr. Gecko but we got a little surprise the other evening when I came out of the hall. Gilly, our little dog, was sniffing something on the floor and to our surprise & I might add our delight, it was a little wee gecko. First of all I wanted to save it from Gilly playing with it plus it is so small we could so easily walk on it plus it was a photographic moment. I quickly scooped Baby Gecko onto a piece of paper but of course couldn't lay my hand on anything to show you some dimension of it so I just grabbed a lone earring that was lying on the bench - of course in all this time Baby Gecko is running around the piece of paper plus trying to jump off it [shhhh it succeed a few times] so here is the result of saving Baby Gecko. Now we are wondering if my calling Mr Gecko Mr is right or should I be calling him / her Mrs. Gecko ... ummmm Mr./Mrs.Gecko is about 15cm/6inches long. I had taken the first photo of Mr. Gecko a few days earlier as I was intrigued how he is up on the ceiling but arched away from the ceiling ready to pounce on an unsuspecting moth, so had been trying to capture that in a photo. When you think about hanging from a ceiling you would be hugging that ceiling for grim death so your body would be flat against it - like I did when I'd decided to climb a ladder that all of sudden wasn't all that secure - they reckon my body parts were sucked through each and ever wrung until I felt the good old terra firma underfoot ... ha ha I find these things interesting and wonder about them .....

Congratulations Y & R.

Today is our eldest daughter's Wedding Anniversary - technically it's their first one but they have really been married for 4 years - yes you got it, they were married on Leap Year Day and a lovely day it was too... Here they all are on their special day ... Congratulations Y & R. and here is the card I made for their anniversary ... I've used some of the nice new stamps I've recently bought from my friend Jean I can't believe that today is a year since I flew to New Zealand for a month teaching stamping - what fun I had + I got to visit with one of my daughters & a girlfriend up in the sound - where has the year gone - yep lots of things have happened in that time but in other ways it just seems like the other day I was working out what I needed to take etc ... a bit like Y. wedding, where have the last four years gone but when you look at the boys now you can sure see ... ha ha they have grown so much - the big fellow H. is taller than all of them now.

Pink Artist ...

I've decided to join the Pink Artist Community Project run by Monica at 'girl gone thread wild'. This is an appeal for 2" square cloth based ArtWork which will be made into a doll & wall hanging by Monica which will be later sold - monies raised will go towards a special Breast Cancer Research in America - as they say "Let's help kick this cancer in the butt!"
Here are my squares that I'm posting tomorrow.

A bit of Fun ...

With all the Blog Surfing I've been doing of late I've found some interesting little tib-bits like this ... all a bit of fun you know but a bit true ...

You Are Romanticism

You are likely to see the world as it should be, not as it is. You prefer to celebrate the great things people do... not the horrors they're capable of. For you, there is nothing more inspiring than a great hero. You believe that great art reflects the artist's imagination and true ideals.

What Art Movement Are You?

Gothic Arch Challenge

Well Rob has been encouraging me again & I always admire her Gothic Arch Challenges that she does so I got busy & made my first entry for this challenge.Check out all the other great entries in this challenge at this link ... Gothic Arches
The theme this week was 'Valentine' ... I got a bit carried away and did two... this first one is of my Mum & Dad when they became engaged, sadly Dad has passed on so he will always be my Mum's Valentine.
I don't think I need to say anymore about the second one other than 'I'm Dreamin'...

The WINNER is ...

Yes I have a winner for One World One Heart Giveaway and it is Fran from ArtsyFran.
Congratulations Fran, I look forward to posting you my Colour My World picture collage all the way to Arizona from my Gyrlie Shed in Australia.
Thank you so very much to all the folks that entered my giveaway & left such wonderful & encouraging comments + also to all that visited and all the bloggers that entered this wonderful World Wide event. Lisa I thank you also for hosting such a great event you were a wonderful hostess full of fabulous encouragement & organisational skills ... I do look forward to doing it all again.

ONE World-ONE Heart ... spreading the Love WorldWide

This is a WorldWide event to bring bloggers together and make new friends, you can read all about it at One World, One Heart on this addy: http://oneworldevent.blogspot.com/
I have made this special piece of art, 'Colour my world', a 8x10 paper collage on canvas board with painted background for this special event and if you would like a chance to win this collage, please leave a comment below this post and you will be in my random draw.
Please understand you must have a blog to enter into this contest. The winner will be announced here on Valentines Day - plus I will let the winner know.
Good Luck and thanks Lisa for organising this fabulous event, what a great way to meet other bloggers and a "feel-good" happening to be involved in.
I would love you to sign my guestbook [at the bottom on this page] and let me know where you live.
Thank you Rob for telling me about this wonderful event and let us ALL go and spread the love.

Happy HAPPY Birthday Jean ...

This photo of Jean and me [Jean is on the right] was taken a couple of years ago at one of my favourite places The Crystal Castle - lovely place to visit and they are always improving it - the gardens are so lovely now too. Crystal Castle it in the sidebar photos on this blog.
Jean you have a wonderful day - I know a wonderful day for you would be some nice steady rain so maybe I'm wishing you a wet day but not that wet that the family can't come visit over the w/e ... Enjoy... & thinking of you.

Grandies back at school..

I've been having a lovely time having Grandies visit plus me visit others but they are all back at school now - much to their mother's relief... I got to take these ones to see Water Horse - I loved it too ... as we were walking out of the theatre I found this prop so just had to use it... We went & spent time with the boy Grandies and they wanted to see Alvin & the Chipmonks - gosh the film people are so clever these days as it all looks so real - great movie too ... boys thought it was great and were having a giggle on the way home. Gosh boys I think TJ is getting a bit big to be driving your remote control 4WD around now ... While we were there it was Australia Day so we all went to Mingo Crossing just outta town for a presentation & bush BBQ brunch [combo of breakfast & lunch]. It was lovely to see local folks being recoginised for their voluntary contributations to their town, from doing genealogy of the old townsfolks to the young folks being SES workers since they were little folks - I think this is something I miss about living in the big smoke that personal connection with the locals - you can tell I'm a country girl at heart. The BBQ was put on by the council and the SES guys brought the community canoes out and supervisied the kids having a paddle in the river - which actually had water in it from all the rain we have had of late so that was a big bonus as some of the little guys have never seen that much water in the river. So the older folk didn't miss out on the day, they were collected in the community bus ... you can see why I love country. Some say that living in a small community like that is stifling as everyone knows everyone elses business and maybe they do but is that being nosey or showing you care ... like most things/events in life there is always two ways of looking at them ... right? I like to think it's the touchy feely caring situation...
Our Grandie in NZ started school this morning and she had a birthday yesterday and her's her card I made. I know I will not get an award for my photography but you can still see what the colours were. Our proxy Grandie had her birthday while we were away and I made her a card simular. I was thinking they could cut the front off their card and use it for the front of a book or their diary. I've got a busy beginning of the week so had better get my skates on and get myself organised.

Wanna win a great Mixed Media Collage book...

On Catherine Matthews-Scanlon blog she is giving away 2 copies of her new book "Art from the Heart". It looks like a it's a fabulous book and if I'm not lucky enough to win one it sure will be on my 'wish'list. To be eligible all you have to do is visit her site and leave a message - how easy is that & while there have a little look around, some very beautiful & interesting stuff ... thanks Creativ Spirit for alerting me to this wonderful chance - I'll share the book with you if I should win Rob ... lol ... http://cmscanlon.blogspot.com/2008/01/giving-away-two-copies.html

Check out my Calendar Slide Show!

Here are my painted backgrounds ...

Here are some of my yummy backgrounds - well I think they are yummy anyway. Some I've added old dressmakers pattern papers to, others text out of old books, old paper doilies & some just layers of paint.

In between...

These are some cards I've made in-between making calendars & doing the mundane home stuff this week. They are all the same, as such, but I think they are quite nice. I've seen people using birds to decorate scrapbook pages, canvas, etc of late but not being a person that can draw I decided to trace one I'd found in a display in a scrapbooking book.I made a template for bird & wing and then used the template on heavy cardstock and made several - now I find you can actually buy these birds as chipboard cutouts ... drrr I'm always a bit slow/behind the times but as least I can make them the size I want for the project at hand.
I've also been doing a course/class at Big Picture Scrapbooking -the class is called Got Paint?Taught by the lovely talented young Emily Falconbridge who lives in the US but comes originally from WA. Australia - she is home on holidays at present and the lucky folks in Perth can actually get to do two classes with her - why is Perth so far away. Anyway doing this class has made me think why aren't I doing some of these painted backgrounds that she has been showing us as backgrounds for my calendar collage scrapbooking. So in-between making calendars & cards I've spent time doing backgrounds and it's been a nice diversion and when they are dry I'll take a photo to share. I can't believe what you can learn while still in the comfort of one's own home.

Some photos of my R&R the other week...

These are photos of the great little Coffee Shop within walking distance of Luc's place called the SheOak Shack. A bit of a danger being so close by but man the coffee is soo good. Don't you just love the sculpture of the man this is a full squared off log with the man shape cut out of two sides and then stuck on the other two sides showing where he has come from, so interesting & maybe he is telling us all something. The log must of been through a fire as it has been burnt out. The decor at the Shack is so cool & great too ... a very relaxing place to spend and hour or two each day ... yummmm
This blue tongue lizard has free range at Luc's house - seems he likes to live inside from time to time but he is a lovely specimen and there are far too few of them around these days.

Check out my Slide Show!

Flooding Subsided

Here are some photos of the flooding around our area - we weren't affected but this is just down the end of our street ... 1st two photos taken on Thursday 7 Jan - take note of the sign post in the water ... now check out what it looked like last Sunday 16 Jan [it had gone down by the Friday but not fully] - note the sign post again.. don't think I would have liked to have been stranded on that fishermen's seat, it must of been under quite a bit of water ...
This flood has given the river a good clean-out which I think they need every so often. Here is what it looked like further up the river from the main road bridge ... note there is a complete fisherman's carpark under water here...many who have been to my place will recognise the pub in the background when we drove over the bridge last Sunday the tide was so low there was mud showing on either side of the river - really is unbelievable to think it could have been so flooded.

Check out my Calendar Slide Show!

Check out my Calendar Slide Show!