Scrapbooking
I bought these goodies at the scrapbooking shop last week.

A packet chock full of inspiration?

I'm now waiting for some time to happen so that I can start unpacking the papers and putting them to good use.

Sanservia
This is one I did a while ago

Thought I'd upload that just for good measure!

Whats in YOUR bag/purse?
I weighed my handbag at the shops the other day. My shoulder has been giving me problems and I deduced that it was either from too much blogging or that my shoulder bag is too heavy.

So, by the potatoes in Woolworths, there is a scale - its one of those old fashioned scales that hang down on a hook.

No one was around, so I put it on the scale are you suprised to know that it weighs in at 2.5 kilos? Dh was amazed that I carry that on my shoulder on a daily basis.
"WHATS in there?" he asked..."oh just stuff I NEED -all 2.5 Kilos of it! "

Birdsong
I'm really enjoying using and experimenting with my digi cam and taking photos at odd times of the day, just to see how they turn out. Here's one taken at dusk.

I love walking around and just snapping away, and then downloading them all to the computer and almost being suprised with the colour or composition of each shot. Gone are the days of buying film, carefully positioning the camera so that there are no 'wasted' shots, then taking them in for processing and paying ridiculous amounts of money for the priveledge. Invariably, throwing out most of the photos, due to poor quality of photo, subject matter or both.

With my digi cam - I'm a happy snapper now!

Kimon- o- ver to my place!
Word play is EASY, but here is something that took a lot of playing around with, using teeny tiny bits of paper before I got the hang of it. Do not attempt this feat of art with taped up fingers - lol!

I saw this kimono on a card making site, that featured the kimono as an embellishement on the front of the card. It should have come with the following warning:

WARNING: This kimono is rated 10/10 on the manual dexterity scale! People with a nervous disposition shouln't even think about starting this project.

Its size, is probably what makes it such a challenge to fold and make. It really is folding on a minature scale. But I rose to the challenge, and made several clumsy attempts before coming up with one I could be pleased with. (Ok - I admit that there were several bags of discarded paper, many cups of strong tea to steady the hands and a few missing tufts of hair later, before a decent kimono appeared before me!) It was worth it!

Back in the saddle.
Sung to the tune of ? Love is all around me ( as in film ? Love Actually)


Cockroaches

I see them in the pantry
I see them in the hall
they're crawling out of closets
and scaling kitchen walls....

But I'm like waiting for them
with bug spray in my hand
a swatter in the other
to hit them when they land..........

and so on and so on...you get the picture by now! It also explains my absence from this spot for the last few days. Surfing the net, reading and writing blogs is fun, catching up with emails too, but from time to time one has a rude reminder to take a break from virtual world, and get on with the daily mundane, like cleaning out pantries, cupboards, which with the sudden advent of some warm weather have suddenly sprouted legs, antennae and take some chasing I can tell you! All is well now, pantries have been cleaned, and bug zappers installed in strategic places.

(With apologies to the original writers of that tune!!)

Anyway, I am back in the saddle today, typing with 2 taped up fingers, trying extra hard not to make gaping typo errors. The fingers are taped as they are very sore -a touch of arthritis I think. Wonder if there's a song ripe for the writing about that subject - no, on second thoughts, maybe not.

As previously mentioned, a few days ago Dh and I were invited to the opening of an exhibition by the very talented Bec Juniper, whose art is displaying both at the Gomboc gallery in real time, and online as we speak. Link to the gallery is down below.
We had a tremendous time just walking around the gallery, both people, and canvas watching.
I met a fascination lady - Judith, an arts journalist,and here's a wave to you Judith if you happen to read this blog! It was lovely to meet you!

Next, we took a long, but pleasant drive into wine country, and it just so happens I has my digi cam with me ready to tantalise you all with my snaps! enjoy! And yes...the earth is remarkably red here.

Then it was onto the olive farm to get our regular supplies of garlic olives, sensational taste of summer!

as you can see from the next two photos it was a hot sunny day.

and finally:

From the sketch book
I wanted to immortalise my Golden Nugget mini pumpkins, before they shrivel up. And here they are.

More about my day out at the GombocGallery tomorrow. Watch this space.

In the right place, at the right time.
What do you think could be the worst thing that could happen at a popular family fast food outlet, on a beautifully sunny Saturday morning? If your answer was a soggy burger, or the wrong portion of fries, then sadly in our modern times you, and I would be getting that question seriously wrong.


In the time it took me to decide wether or not I should cross the road to the outlet, to get a cup of tea and to use their 'facilities' a man was brutally assualted and stabbed, right there in front of my eyes. I can still hear him screaming in pain from the wounds. All I can recall is standing like a frozen statue, in some sort of gruesome tableau, along with other diners, and staff. It took several seconds before everyone was galvanised into action. Firstly to give first aid to the man, count the minutes till the ambulance arrived and pray that they got there in time.


I felt fine at first, then the reaction set in. I ended up going into the store to get a hot drink as my hands and legs were shaking so much. The manager gave me a cup of tea on the house. I spent most of the day strangely calm, yet upset, as I went over the details of a 'what might have been situation' if I had been there at the "wrong" time instead.

And in the Garden - Bougainvillea -Fiery Delight

Has taken off with an aveangance, now that the warmer weather is here. I planted it during the winter months and it sat there looking very sad and sorry. I was worried it may not last the distance. But looking at it today, its done us proud, and climbing with speed and enthusiasm. Here it is:

Pretty ain't she?

Please stop me someone.....
.....before I hurt myself in the creative rush. Let me explain further...I found two old scrapbooking magazines among some books on the shelflast night, and looking through them found the adress of a great shop nearby that stocks, papers, scrapbooking stuff, embellishments and so on.
Could'nt wait to get up this morning and make a beeline for the shop - Starfish Lane
I was a woman on a mission, and I wasn't disappointed. Oh, the fun I had wandering around, looking and touching, dreaming, and planning fantasy layouts in my head. The store also runs classes which I think would probably be great for a 'scrappy' novice like me. What did I buy? oh yes...I managed to tear myself away before too much damage was done to my credit card, and bought a set of art papers - its called the 'inspiration pack' ( I'll let you know if it did, what it promises to do)that was $9.50, and a few transparency papers for my personal journal. I like to copy and paste nice quotes from the internet and print them onto the clear papers. They look great as overlays or paste alones. Then it was over to do the grocery (yawn) shopping and home. I also bought some runes.
I saw them advertised in a bookstore, and they were on special. I've been curious about these for a long time, and now that they were being sold at a special price - I could'nt resist the bargain. The 25 runes come with their own hessian storage bag, which by theway smells awful - I had to just about hold my nose when doing my 'first' reading. I'm not sure I've interpreted the meanings of the reading correctly, as the answers bore little connection to the question I had asked. I suppose practise makes perfect?