How to - do all sorts of things! Fab and fun DIYs from how-to craft sites this week. Blogtoberfest 2013 day 14.

Here are some tasty little morsels for you to try.

Hands up - who likes salted caramels?

From Cut Out and Keep - how to make salted caramels in the microwave.

This is another one I need to try - it makes adjustable bracelets!

How to make a sliding macrame bracelet - also from Cut Out and Keep.

This one appeals to me on so many levels - recycling and cycling!

Bicycle hand guards from instructables.

Here is a new twist on the recycled-jeans-bag.

Make a denim bag from an old pair of jeans.
Found on instructables.

I love the look of these sweet little books.

Cute little matchbook size sketch pads
From lifestyle.com.au

Weekend wanderings - blogtoberfest 2013 day 13.

We went for a bushwalk.
It was meant to be an easy little jaunt....but turned into a 3 1/4 hour epic!

We started in Glenbrook where unfortunately there has been some recent burning of the bush - deliberate (as in hazard reduction) or accidental (as in actual bushfire) we weren't sure as the bush wasn't completely burnt and it was only on one side of the path.

We were descending to Glenbrook creek which is actually a lot further away than it looks here -

Down at creek level, there are lots of nice swimming holes.

Mr planet contemplating the water -

There isn't really a track along the creek, but a bit of a foot pad and walking involved a fair bit of rock-hopping, scrambling and pushing through bushes.
It's not that hard, I just wasn't in the mood for it.

It was a bit warm.

So eventually we did go for a dunk in the water - which was surprisingly cold!
And there are no pictures as we had to skinny-dip.

It cooled us off before the climb out and back along the fire trail to the car.

Saturday seven - 7 movies

One of the good things about loooong plane trips (apart from going somewhere fab) is the inflight entertainment these days (unless you fly some low-cost airlines)....and catching up on some movies I may have missed.
Also seeing some brand-spanking-new ones that haven't been released here yet.

In all I managed to squeeze in 10, that's T.E.N movies! But we were in the air for 40 hours altogether so I actually physically watched more!

The best 7 of the movies I saw on the plane are -

1. The Place Beyond the Pines

The thing I liked most about this movie was the way the protagonist changes through the film. In fact it is more like 3 stories linked by strong connections. To say too much would be to be a spoiler.
Good believable performances and a tightly told story. Oh, it's not such a happy story, but not every story is happy.
Worth watching.

2. The Way Way Back.

Cute, quirky, off-beat, funny.
I liked it!
Great over-the-top characters and a lovely heart-warming story about being different, fitting in and acceptance.

3. Good Vibrations.

I enjoyed this quirky little film - a true story about Terry Hooley who opened a record shop in Belfast which led to him being a promoter of Ireland's punk rock bands.
His character is so adorably naive and sweet-natured, you just want him to succeed.
Notably I managed to fall asleep while watching it - Punk Music in my headphones and all!

4. Side Effects.

I was totally engaged by this movie. I thought the acting was really tops. And the story, although rather far-fetched had twists and turns aplenty.
Good airplane fodder.

5. Arthur Newman.

Well it has Colin Firth in - say no more!
I actually like Colin Firth as an actor, for the roles he chooses.
This slightly off-beat story was fun, moving and engaging.
4 stars!

6. Night Train to Lisbon.

I read this at my book club in fact it was the first book that we read after I joined.
And quite frankly I thought it was awful!
If it hadn't been my first book I certainly wouldn't have finished it, so it was with some interest I tuned in to the movie.
I must say it made a rather nice little movie, the book has been pared down (as movies really have to when adapting a book).
I liked Jeremy Irons in the role and I liked the look of the film and the way the story was told.

A nice surprise.

7. Drift, Mud, Quartet or Outside Bet
I cant decide - they are all reasonably average air-flight fodder.

Have you seen any good movies lately?
Seen any of these? What did you think?

Five Friday Faves - the last on! Blogtoberfest 2013, day 11.

I've decided this will be my last Fabulous Friday Finds...for a while anyway.
I'm going to try something different on Fridays....watch this space.....

So here are a few fabulous finds that I have recently favorited -


How could I go past this? Cloud Atlas is my favorite book!
And what gorgeous colours in this handfelted tunic.

cloud atlas tunic by LybaV

Who doesn't love a handmade book?
Love the styling in Moon Rabbit's photos too.

handbound book by MoonRabbitHandmade

If I could I would collect salt and pepper shakers....but not sure how they would fit in with my chicken collection....there are other cute ones too - cats, birds, pomegranates....oh, yum!

porcelain salt and pepper shakers by BackBayPottery

Loving the amazing colours on these etched copper bracelets.

etched copper bracelet by annamcdade

And how could I not pick this sweet blue mountain brooch.
Look at it!

blue mountain brooch by NariDesignPot

OK, lovely people that a wrap!
Hope you all have a great weekend.

My Creative Space - getting my beads out. Blobtoberfest 2013 day 10.

I've been away for a while - as you no doubt know!
And now it is October! Yikes!
It will be Christmas before you know it.
Big markets and festivals are coming up.....
but..... the jewellery cupboard is bare.....luckily the bead cupboard is not bare.

So I ventured into my workroom and pulled out some strands of brand-spanking-new beads.

Just for a bit of a warm-up I made some simple necklaces - I like to think of this as my monochrome range, but maybe I need a different name.

aquamarine necklace

turquoise howlite

green agate

pink faceted agate

red coral

I also made some sparkly faceted glass bracelets.

What have you been creating this week?

Wordless Wednesday - Where I spent my day. Blogtoberfest 2013 day 9.

I spent today behind the counter of The Nook.
"What is that?" you say.

Well - The Nook is an excellent little art and craft co-operative in the leafy town of Leura in the beautiful Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

And this is some of what I saw there today -

 You can find The Nook Leura at 133A Leura Mall (upstairs), Leura.
Or at thenookleura.com.au
Or on facebook facebook.com/thenookleura 

Create or Curate? Blogging bits. Blogtoberfest 2013 day 8.

Last week on Gruen Planet on ABCTV one of the panelists mentioned the issue of create vs curate in relation to web content, specifically that most content on the web is curated rather than created. Meaning that most of it is reposts, summaries and round-ups of issues.
Less of it is stuff that people are actually writing, or posting their own photographs or uploading their own movies.

This is very true of blogs.
Are you a creator or a curator? Or a bit of both?

Some of my favorite blogs have curation - you know you can pop in for some tasty recipe links, fun fonts, or newsy bit 'n bobs.

On the other hand ploughing through some original diatribes can be less than satisfying - even if they are well-written.

It led me to think-
Does this make the web better or worse?
I guess variety is the spice of life.

Is there a place for both?
I think so, after all you can never read everything.

Do you follow a lot of "curated" blog or sites?

How important is original content when you are browsing?

Do you like that you can pop to a site and have a summary of the news, or recipes, or fonts for example?

Feel free to leave tour comments here - I will reply.