- and the winner is -

the lovely Hazel from Intheframe.

Thanks so much to all those who took the time to send me their reading recommendations - I'm slowly working my way through them
I'm a bit of a slow reader and at the moment I can't put down a trio of Rebus books by Ian Rankin, and I'm also reading "The White Masai" by Corinne Hoffman.
It's not usual or me to read more than one book at a time, I think I'll get confused. But these two are so different (!) I dont think confusion will be a problem.

I do love reading real life stories, travel stories and autobiographies - I'm a bit of an armchair traveller, especially at the moment.

I'll let you know how I go with the next books on my list.
Stayed tuned!

7 things I want to do when I get my cast off

1. Stand on my own two feet - gingerly.

2. Have a nice long bath.

3. Wear normal clothes (not just baggy pants)

4. Make a cup of tea and carry it to the table.

5. Go downstairs - and come up again.

6. Shave my legs.

7. Stop hopping!

Tuesday music - Once

My lovely son left me this music to listen to today.
I loved the movie which I saw a couple of years ago.
And I've always wanted the music.




Isnt he sweet?

monday's treasuries

Great excitement!
Etsy launched a new treasury last week. Treasury east.
It is still in beta testing, but it may be the way of the future.

For one thing it doesn't use flash, which is great 'cus flash is so annoying to have to wait for.

Also your treasury never expires!
There must be unlimited capacity for treasuries.
But I dont know if this is a good idea - I will never scroll through 2 million treasuries or whatever.

I have yet to make a treasury east, but I have been featured in one that I know of.
This pretty springtime ode.


Thanks to minimade for including my spring sunset necklace.

Minimade makes beautiful things with beautiful fabrics, like this clever teacosy and matching napkins.
What a great idea.

teacosy with matching coasters by minimade

And just today I got a convo from Scandalously to say that a BoosTees brooch is in this gorgeous treasury west.



Scandalously also does wonderful and original things with fabric -in this case buttony and bowy things!
I just couldnt go past this amazing Parisian necklace.
Isnt it to die for?

vintage Paris by Scandalously

No treasuries from me this week.
I havent been tempted by the new treasury east yet. Maybe it's because it doenst seem so special when it is so easy to make one.
But maybe I should give it a go??

Watch this space!

and now for something completely different

As a change from beading and knitting, I drew some cards in the style of BoosTees tshirts.



What I'm wondering is - should I add a caption or something?
For example "penguin" or "oliver owl"?

What do you think?

Book giveaway

I'm giving away this book!
All you have to do is leave a comment with a book recommendation for me.

I have pretty wide tastes in reading, as you can see by this previous post -

http://planettreasures.blogspot.com/2010/04/seven-things-sunday.html

I'll pick the winner at random on Thursday 29th April.

p.s you get an additional entry if you follow this blog - tell me in a seperate comment please.

Wednesday wishlist

Sometimes things are far too beautiful to use!
You just want to own them and look at them and admire them, and show them to your friends and want them to "goo" and "gah" over them as well.


Here are my "goo-gah'' items this week.

Ready?

geisha cloth napkins by WeeBeaks

Beautiful fabrics always get me going!

silk lined clutch by BrianaEdelmanDesigns

And I couldnt resist this addition to my chook collection -

vintage rooster sewing caddy by CampHobachee

Tuesday music

Chris Wilson a festival favorite!
Blues harp, yeah!

monday treasuries

What a good week!
BoosTees was in this lovely trasury from billymac and guess what?

It made it to the front page of etsy!

Well done Christina!
Thanks so much for picking my chocolate fingerless mitts!


billymac makes the cutest tshirts for kids, like this whimsical Alice inspired girl's T.

I'm late - Alice in Wonderland tshirt by billymac

and here is the front page of etsy.


- just 'cus I can.

Seven things Sunday - books

I've been getting a lot of reading done since I've been out of action with a fractured ankle.
Making my way through the pile of books next to my bed, then I can start on some of the kids books.

So this week I thought I would bring you the last 7 books I have read -

1. The Laguna by Barbara Kingsolver
I loved the structure and concept of this story and it's view of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's lives, and the broader sweep of history.

2. Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich
Knocked this one off pretty quickly. Bit of a marshmallow book, fun at the time but you wouldnt want to have it everyy day.

3. Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey
Not exactly an easy read, being written in the two voices of Parrot and Olivier during thr French Revolution. But I do like Peter Carey. I think he is very clever.

4. The Waddi Tree by Kerry McGinnis
An Australian outback family saga. Very evocative of time and place.

5. The Good Mayor by Andrew Nicoll
I didn't enjoy this one as much as I wanted to. It's hard to say why. Maybe the style. Or the story.

6. Oyster by Janet Turner Hospital
An early Janet Turner Hospital. I do enjoy reading her.

7. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
Laugh out loud! What more can I say?

What have you read lately that you can recommend to me?

Ooopsa-daisy!

What have I been up to this week?

Making daisy chains - that's what.

It's a stich I've never had much interest before, but when I saw a design for some little rings in Beth Stone's book - I though "what else have I got to do?"




Here is a close-up of the bracelet I made with size 8 beads, so you can see the pattern.



I made a ring with size 11 cylinder beads and some swarovski crystals.



And then another using less crystals, I tought it would be more comfortable to wear.



Then another coliur combo.


The daisy chain bracelet made with bead soup size 8 beads.
It doesnt show the pattern of the daisy stitch very well, but I like the randomness of it.


What do you think?

Wednesday wishlist

This week something for me -

blue angel kimono cocoon by lyndell

Something for hubby - it's his birthday soon.

winter stemless wine glasses by marywibis

And something to imagine -

the back alley by elgarbo

mikelangelo and the black sea gentlemen

I thought I would share another band I saw at the Blue Mountains music festival.

If you like offbeat, slightly black, gypsy-burlesque-circus-cabaret then you really should see these guys live!

monday treasuries

It's a beautiful autumn morning, a little crispy in the air butthere are blue skies and there is freshness all around.
What a lovely start to the week!

Of course in other parts of the world it is spring and this treasury is a clelbration of that tome of year.



Many thinks to sublimedragonfly for including BoosTees lilac and lemon mitts.

Sublimedragonfly makes delicious soaps and other body products.

How could I go past a margarita lime soap? Yum!

margarita lime soap by sublimedragonfly

Playing with little beads - what I made this week.

Sitting down all day with leg propped up is giving me a good opporyunity to do some things I wouldnt normally do.

For example finishing off some of those UFO's that seem to lurk in every crafters workspace.

This was a little piece of freeform peyote that had been gathering dust, and I extended it into a bracelet.


Bracelets are a great way to experiment and learn new techniques, they dont take too long or too many beads.

I'm a big fan of Beth Stone's two books - Seed Bead Stitching and More Seed Bead Stitching. (As I may have mentioned before!)

This is a tubular peyote stich bracelet from one of the books


and a diagonal weave necklace with pearls from another,


and a frosted glass and pearl bracelet.


I dug out some of my beading magazines and inspected the bookmarked pages.
This is my simplified version of a bracelet by Elizabeth Nance from Bead and Button magazine Issue 93.


Hers is wider and uses more crystals, so mine is more economical.
But I didnt get the increasing for the crystal inclusion quite right, (not that you can probably tell!) so I made another one.



I am currently making another version of the ruffle bracelet I made last week.

Added to that I have been knitting as well, but havent managed to take photos yet!
That involves moving!

helicopter rescue

helicopter rescue
Originally uploaded by planettreasures

Wednesday wishlist

This week I wish for -

beautiful bangles from MilkwoodDesigns

set of three resin bangles - teal, aqua and green by MilkwoodDesigns

the cutest ever coin purse -

the owls coin purse by seventhsphere

and the most comfortable looking skirt -

the vermont skirt in rust by nicolecarey

monday's treasuries

The treasury drought well and truly broke this week, with me being featured in three of the lovelies, and being able to nab two mysel!!

Thanks to the very special Mich of michvanetta, who featured my spring sunset necklace in her collection gleaned from the shops of Australian crafters.



Mich makes delicious jewellery and these stunning earrings are in my favorite colour.

vintage pears - electric blue lucite and vintaj brass earrings by michvanetta

editionbw has the splendid idea of picking items from treasury curators shops.
I'm so grateful editonbw chose maisie mouse tshirt from my BoosTees shop.

I chose this super sweet little brooch from among the many delights of editionbw's shop.

crochet bloom brooch by editionbw

Silvia66 made a beautiful muted collection, which is indeed elegant.
I was delighted when she told me she'd included my dust fingerless mitts.



How could I go past this stunning sweater in my favorite colour?
Check out silvia66' shop for amazing handknits

sweater with cables by silvia66

And lastly my two!

Seven things I like

1. chocolate
2. guinea pigs


3. an open fire
4. laughing
5. warm feet
6. riding my bicycle
7. being surrounded by friends

lunch 2 april

lunch 2 april
Originally uploaded by planettreasures

My wonderful husband has been making me lunch (and breakfast and dinner).
Today I asked for a salad.
Isnt his the most beautiful salad you have ever seen?
And it was prepared and eaten with love.

What I made this week.

Ruffle bracelet designed by Tina Koyama as featured in Beadwork magazine.


I used ocean colours and the result is like foamy waves, embellished with blue freshwater pearls.




I made a beaded toggle clasp and a ruffled loop, which is in keeping with the bracelet design.


It's such an simple and beautiful design, I might make some more in different colours.