Sculptures by the Sea

H and I went on our annual pilgrimage to Bondi to the Sculptures by the Sea exhibition.
It was a wet and wild day, but after a sustaining cup of coffee we set out - cameras clasped in our cold little hands.
As usual there were fabulous, clever, surprising, bold, amusing pieces (and one or two that failed to attract our attention).


It's an amazing location - along the cliffs from Bondi to Tamarama Beach and some on the beach at Tamarama.



Some of the pieces are designed to fit into the location where they are placed - very clever.
Others would suit anywhere. Some I would love to have in my garden.


This beautiful surreal piece is called "nexus".


There are more pictures on my flickr

Easy Slice Recipe

Someone gave me this recipe years ago.
It's great to mix up and pop in the oven if you already have it on to cook something else.

Rolled Oats Slice

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup wholemeal flour
1 cup raw sugar
1 cup coconut
1 cup mixed dried fruit
4 oz (125 g) butter
2 tbs golden syrup
2 tbs milk

Melt butter and golden syrup together.
Mix all dry ingredients together, than add the wet ingredients.
Mix well.
Press into a slice tin.
Bake at 170 - 180 oc until brown, about 15 mins.


Cut into slices and enjoy with a nice cup of tea!

Some new creations

I have been on a bead buying spree!

First of all there was the Sydney bead and gem show, where I met some of my favorite lampwork artists, as well as the Venetian glass lady and Sue from Beadglass, who sells gorgeous czech glass beads.
I must also mention the ever welcoming Bev and Ross from The Rock Shop.

I found these lovely ceramic beads at Feeling Inspired, and teamed them with faceted orange jade and some little spacer beads from Beadworx.

These beautiful lampwork beads are by DKS beads of Sydney.
I always buy her 'orphans', they make fabulous bracelets, dont you think?

Carved blackstone bead from Bjulde, and red aventurine nuggets.


Tabular freshwater pearls and faceted amethyst that I got during another shopping expedition to Sydney.

Some of these will be listed in my etsy shop.

Also look out for me at the Rhododendron festival at Blackheath next weekend.

Remodel, renovate and refresh

Sometimes things just dont sell!
N o matter how beautiful you think they are, and despite being made from the finest components and created during your best creative moment. Well, they just sit on the shelf for weeks and months and sometimes years!

The great thing about beaded jewellery is that when you are totally sick of the sight of something you can pull it apart and make something else.
Which is what I did to a few of my pieces recently.
and what's more most of them sold straightaway! Hurray!

In the photo above, the lower necklace featured a gorgeous lampwork bead made by Bev Butler. I strung it with a variety of gemstones and pearls. It was a longish style, which I thought was quite fashionable.
BUT it had to go!
I remodelled it into this short necklace with coral and turquoise, and it sold at once!
Necklace #2 was also a longish one, with various pearls and lapiz. I had made a few variations on this theme and they all went really well, but not this one!
So it became several pretty bracelets, one of which is still available in my etsy shop.

When I originally designed this rose quartz, pearl and amazonite necklace, I thought it was the prettiest thing ever! It has some tanzanite coloured swarovski crystals and crystal quartz chips in as well.
But it's days were numbered and it also became several bracelets.One of them is also in my etsy shop.

This three strand necklace always attracted lots of attention. People were always drawn to the jade pendant and were disappointed that it was attached to a strand of rose quartz and a strand of green pearls.
When I pulled it apart and used the pendant for a totally different necklace it walked straight out the door!

It was great to have a bit of a spring clean. I have uncluttered my stash a little and made some extra sales.

Leura Tea at the Nook

The Nook has some new members!
In this post I will just tell you about Liane and Angelique who are Leura Tea.
It's hard to believe that they have only had their business in operation for 4 months.

I think the range and style of their hand blended teas is due to the amount of work and research they put into the previous 8 months as they devoloped their ideas and of course their product - the delicious teas!


Their specialty is a range called Leura tea blends -
- Blue Mountains Earl Grey
- Blue Mountains Lady Grey
- Leura Chai
- Lemon Sublime
- Billy Blue



Inspired by their own young families, they decided to develop a range of caffeine-free teas. Of course these are all enjoyed by all members of the family!
- Captain Jack's Jaffa
- Gabriel's Chocolate Chai
- Eddie's Apple Spice
- Dominic's Jasmine Black
- Honey Bee

They are constantly blending and creating interesting teas such as Japanese Genmaicha, Goji Berry, Australian Daintree as well as the amazingly beautiful artisan tea balls.

You can find all these delights and more at
The Nook, (a co-operative gallery)
upstairs at 133A The Mall, Leura.
ph 02 47 84 2917
thenookleura.com.au

or contact Liane and Angelique
leura-tea@hotmail.com
www.leuratea.com.au

24 years and still going....

G and I have been married for 24 years!

Quite an acheivement!

He took the day off work and we went to Mount Tomah botanic garden. This is a cool climate garden.

Had a lovely lunch with a great view, over the gardens and hills.

Some stunning flowers were out in bloom.

- camellia.


- king protea.


-
many beautiful rhododendrons.



- this is a huge warahah bush, just full of waratahs!

Earrings for Suzie

My friend Suzie has a wonderful shop in Leura - full of gorgeous delights, and she asked me to put some of my earrings in there.
The shop is "Leura Vintage" and as the name suggests she specialises in vintage clothing and collectables, bric-a-brac, retro, gifts and more!

These are what I designed especially for her using some vintage-style czech glass beads on sterling silver and gold-filled hooks.



You can find Leura Vintage at 147 The Mall, Leura (upstairs), NSW, Australia.