Friday Fill In

1. I'd really like to go for a swim right now.

2."Oh, no I think I've broken it" is the word you'd most often hear me say if I stubbed my toe. ( this really happened to me this week - how did you know?)

3. Possession is not neccessary.

4. I laugh at Captain Jack Sparrow.

5. Marshmallows and fire go together like summer and tennis.

6. Life goes on and on.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going out to dinner with the special man in my life, tomorrow my plans include going to the movies to see 'Doubt' and Sunday, I want to stay home, but I have to go to work!

What I made last week

Time to get busy again for the first big event of the year - Australia Day celebrations at Glenbrook Park.

I made some earrings using my favorite Czech glass beads.

- little necklaces with glass pendants and my own mixes of seed beads.

- rings, with handmade lampwork glass beads, czech glass beads, venetian glass, and gemstones.


- and some more earrings, this time with unicorn beads, and venetian glass with little swarovski crystals for a bit of spaarkle.

Treasuries with me and by me - part 3

This week started quietly as regards either getting or being featured in a treasury.

Maybe the timing wasn't right for us down-under people.

Then the end of the week brought a flurry - including this deliciously coloured one by laceandlinks.
Carmel of laceandlinks was inspired by the colour of Australia - the wide brown land, and kindly included my south-west cape necklace, right next to rainbowrevolutions gorgeous wrap which I own a version of (see a previous post).
Carmel (laceandlinks) is a very versatile crafter, who enjoys making all sorts of creations.
Just look at the incredible colourful bracelet - Beads of fire.

On a totally different topic, hannahfaerie found unity in the muted tones of bugs, and we were thrilled to see one of our new tshirts included - the blue dragonfly tshirt.

Hannah is another Australian seller on etsy who fashions one of a kind jewellery from her own lovely ceramic beads.
I just love the colour and textures on this pretty wedgewood necklace.
Well it has been very hot in Sydney this week, and Olga from Baboom must have wished she was back in Europe to cool down. Not that there are actually icebergs in europe!

I'm glad she thought my moonshine bracelet fitted her theme, and hope it helped to cool her down.

Olga is an amazingly talented worker of yarn, felt, beads etc, who creates all her own designs, including this delightful scarflette - perfect for mermaids, and exquisitely knitted and crocheted.


And to finish a couple I curated (at the same time, one in treasury and the other in treasury west).

This song has been going round in my head all week, so I just had to put it into pictures.

Then, because it was Australia day, I just had to do the green and gold one...

Friday Fill In

1. Oh, I am so HOT!

2. My body, unfortunately changes, big and little.

3. During the day, I create jewellery.

4. I reversed my car into a truck yesterday ; are you kidding me???

5. Right now I'd like to be at the beach - or somewhere just a little bit cooler.

6. My Ott light (wonderful natural light) is my favorite gadget.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watcing the tennis on TV, tomorrow my plans include getting my new bed delivered and Sunday, I want to go and watch the Brewster Brothers at Katoomba!

...at the bottom of my garden...

Hey! what's that at the bottom of my garden???

Let's take a closer look...

something is eating G's new plant....


"hey! What are you doing?"

"Who? Me?"
Yes! YOU!!!!

Treasuries- part 2

It's a great buzz to find an item you have created has been chosen to be in a treasury.

I had that thrill three times last week!

How do you know if your work had been picked for a treasury?
When you look at the treasury lists if you have an item in one, a gold star will show just before where it says 'picked by'.

So the first one was curated by super-talented artist janallsopp.

I'm so happy that she thought my sand and sea bracelet fitted with her theme.

Jan has many talents, apart from painting and drawing she makes altered books and mixed media pieces.

I really love these pair of cup paintings.


Another treasury I was in, was this lovely one by michvanetta.
She found all these different silver pieces from members of the DUST team (Down Under Street Team - a group of Australian sellers on etsy).
My by the light of the silvery moon earrings are in wonderful company amongst all these talented artisans.

Mich, is an amazing jewellery designer, who takes amazing photos of her creations.
Dont you just love the cool simplicity of these turquoise earrings.
check out all the other goodies in her shop.


A great surprise was to see I had been included in this team treasury, to showcase the work of the etsy twitter team.
Just in case you dont know, twitter is a social chatting network.

This was a lovely bright and colourful collecton, and I was so happy to see my colourful carnival bracelet was a part of it.


Lastly I got the chance to curate one myself.
I also wanted to showcase all the wonderful Australian craftspeople, so I started searching for members of the DUST team.
I found a vibrant ring by bobishi, and that became my colour scheme.
One thing led to another, and then I had to think of a name, as that is the first thing you enter when posting your treasury.
...berry colours, yum - I love berries, they are delicious!

Hope you think my treasury is delicious too.

new earrings for the new year

All good things come to an end - even having a break from making things.
I have a market coming up next week, but being a great procrastinator, I have put off making anything I can actually sell.

Instead I have been fiddling withwonderful little cubes give to me by the gorgeous Realisationcreations. She's been having a destash, which is something I had planned for the new year too. Ah, well.

I started with just a simple bracelet in peyote stitch.
But I didnt have enough beads to make it fit my wrist, so I added co-ordinating seed beads in 2-drop stitch at the ends.
(this picture shows it not quite finished yet)

I remember seeing a technique using cube beads and seed beads in a Bead and Button magazine.
that surely would solve the problem of not having quite enough beads for a bracelet.

For the next project I chose these lovely pewter or gunmetal matt cubes.
I teamed them some size 11's in a clear pale amethyst colour, that wouldnt overwhelm the cubes.


It is worked in a 2-drop peyote stitch, with the cubes being single-drop.
This technique is a lot slower than straight peyote stitch, and so it is still a work in progress, because I'm really thinking that I should be making earrings.

I have a stack of gorgeous Venetian glass beads still to use, so I warmed up witha few simple pairs.


The beads come from many different glassmakers in Venice and you can see how varied their beads are.

Some of them are quite large - not for the faint-hearted.
I'll be taking them to the Australia Day market in Glenbrook, Which is where the gnome convention happens.
These are definitely not gnome sized earrings.

Friday Fill In

1. Enough with the heatwave. And thank goodness (and my husband) for the airconditioning.

2. Choosing between doing the crossword or reading a book causes me to be conflicted.

3. I've been craving cold drinks, ice cream and gin and tonic..

4. My husband makes me laugh.

5. I wish I could go to the himalayas next week. But it might have to wait til next year.

6. Tennis has been on my mind lately. It's on the TV as well

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to my husband coming home from 2 days away, tomorrow my plans include snorkelling at the beach and Sunday, I want to make some new jewellery!

Red and earth and white tea

things that I have bought recently

I have admired Rainbowrevolutions gorgeous hand-dyed scarves, wraps and shawls for some time and being a bit of a 'blue' girl, I had my eye on a lovely aqua blue scarf.

But I decided I needed to get out of my comfort zone and when I saw this stunning red/pink gauzy scarf I knew it was for me. (and it was in rainbowrevolutions giant January sale!)



It is even more beautiful in the flesh and I took it to the tennis with me, as it was a very hot day and I wet it slightly and wrapped it round my neck. It helped to keep my temperature down a bit.

As well I just couldnt resist the description of this hemp/ silk blend and look at how gorgeous the colours are!

I'm so thrilled with my purchases.
I urge you to visit rainbowrevolutions etsy shop.


Whilst browsing the Dust team (etsy down under street team) sale pages I spotted some patchouli blend soap, it sounded so delicious - Citrus Grove.
Then I reasoned that to make the most of the postage I should buy a few soaps.

After many convos back and forth with the ever helpful Erin of innerearthsoaps,
I ordered white Tea & Ginger (also on sale) and on Erin's recommendation - Karma Kazi, another lovely patchouli combination.


They arrived really quickly, beautifully packed with and generously included a freebie of a new flavour that Erin is trying.
If you love natural handmade soaps, please visit innerearthsoaps - you wont regret it.

Treasuries with me and by me

Treasuries are a feature of etsy.

Basically they are collections of items from various shops on etsy.
They are posted and can be viewed for 2 to 3 days, then they are gone.

Here are some treasuries I have been in last week and one that I curated myself.


First, inspired by looming Valentine's Day vintageprincipessa found some interesting items to suit her theme. She included the tshirt I gave you my heart made by Amy and me.


Doodlage on the other hand was in a mellow mood when she created this warm treasury

There are some lovely pieces of amber in it and she deemed my Baltic Beaches bracelet to be a good fit.

In contrast, pippilangstrumpf, another Australian seller chose green as the feature colour in her treasury.


She very kindly included my Green Valley Earrings

In a multi-hued mood, Faeriemajikk found colour in the four elements.


I was thrilled to see my Moonshine bracelet had been included amongst the 'air' items.

Lastly I was totally unprepared for this treasury, but just couldnt say 'no'.
Unfortunately my brain stalled and I was unable to think of a name for it. As you see this was the best I could come up with.

However I was really pleased with the way it turned out - some gorgeous things from some of my favorite sellers.

Next week, I'll talk a bit more about treasuries on etsy, and show you some other lovely collections.

Friday fill-in

1. It's January; time to plan a busy year ahead.

2. A good nights sleep is what I crave most right now.

3. Cork and wine go together like me and my love.

4.Going for a walk in the early morning when the birds are singing is so nourishing.

5. Let us dare to learn how to rollerblade.

6. I feel safe in my my home.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting to bed early and sleeping for eight hours, tomorrow my plans include noodling around at home and Sunday, I want to sell ten tshirts at the Kirribilli Art & Design market!

Some new pieces for the new year

Everybody else was back at work, so it was time for me to do some more creating.

But what?
Where to start?

I have so many ideas going round in my head, so many beads to use and a market this sunday!

I need to make necklaces and earrings and bracelets!

So I started small with some cute little czech glass beads I found just before Christmas.

Little chuck converse sneakers!

After rummaging through my bead boxes I found half strands and part strands of beads, not enough for a necklace, but how about a bracelet?

and instead of stringing in a repeating pattern, how about grouping them.

Desert Oasis Bracelet

Sand and Sea Bracelet

then because I always have many odd beads

Earth Bracelet

inspired by the colours of the earth.

What to do with one sizeable chunk of yellow opal?
Exotic Journey Bracelet

combine it with pearls and Swarovski Crystal, and some Bali spacers.

If you had to go collect all these yourself, it would be an incredible exotic journey.
I wish I could go on that journey.

But for now I just have to do some more creating.

Friday Fill In

1. The world is beautiful and amazing.

2. Goodnight was the last thing I said. (to my daughter)

3. I wonder if I will ever see Mount Everest.

4. Chocolate at the end of all things. (and why not)

5. There's something to be said for chocolate (when you cant think of anything else there's always chocolate).

6. Out in the bush exploring nature is where I want to be.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to an early night (but it didnt happen), tomorrow my plans include spending my christmas gift vouchers (on something just for me!)and Sunday, I want to make some more tshirts (while my husband and son are at the cricket)!

New year's resolutions

It's a bit of a cliche really, the new year's resolutions. But it is a time for reflection, renewal, and goal setting.
A new year - a new number to remember to write when you are writing the date on something.
A time to reflect on successes and failures of the last 12 months.
What do we want to acheive in the year ahead?
What to change?
What to have more of, or less?
A fresh start -
This year I want more -
time for myself
to get more exercise
to spend more time with friends
to get out and explore the bush


I want to read more
and watch more movies

I want to spend less time on the computer
I want to waste less time, by working more efficiently.
- to blog more regularly.
- to create fabulous jewellery that people will want to buy.
- to sell some tshirts for A.
- to use some of the stuff in my workroom.
- to finish some of the UFO' s around the place.

I plan to revamp my market set up
- get new tableclothes.
- get a banner
- make the display more attractive.
- find a really good regular market (ha!)

I aim to hug my kids and husband every day.
Help a stranger every day.
and pay a compliment to everyone I meet.

Am I expecting too much of myself?
How will I go with my little plans?
- Watch this space -