I'm luuuuving my Christmas Ornament!!!

I joined a Handmade Christmas Ornament Swap (refer to left side bar) and I received mine last week. We also had to make a card to send with it. My swap partner was Liz from Luv 2 Cre8te, and I luv, luv, luv the ornament and card she has sent me. She has put so much work into all the beading and wiring of the ornament, and the colour is just so pretty! Ooh and the vintage look of the card is sooo up my alley.

Can't tell you how much I appreciate and love your wonderful gift to me Liz. Thank you so much!!! x

If you click on the pic you'll get a much better look of the ornament and card. The pic really doesn't do them justice!

Inside the card.

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This is the swap I sent to Liz. Thanks to her for sending me these pics, when I so stupidly forgot to take any before I posted the parcel off!

I threw in some Christmas tags that I printed off and cut out. Love the vintagey look of these too.

Many thanks to Clare & Robyn for running the swap. I'm sure there was an awful lot of work went into organising the whole thing. Well done girls!!

Bit sad here at the mo.

Well, probably more than a bit, really.

Remember Puss and Kit, the mother and daughter stray/feral cats that we were feeding? From a previous posting? Puss managed to get pregnant before we felt we could handle her enough to have her desexed, and the result was these two little bits. They were born on 7th September, and these pics were taken about a month ago. They are the sweetest little terrors on four legs!

Yesterday we handed them over to an animal group that helps to rescue and re-home stray and unwanted cats, Best Friends Rescue. At the same time, we left Puss and Kit at a vet arranged by this group, to be desexed. So when poor Puss woke up she was not only probably sore, and groggy, but had no kitties. I'm not coping too well with it all, but realise that it's more of a human thing. More about my own issues with separation and abandonment. I'm pretty sure she will get over it quicker than I.

We always knew we wouldn't have them for very long, and we will continue to foster Puss until/if they manage to find a home for her. Because of the new council laws, we can only have two cats, so will keep only Kit(as well as our old cat).

It's saddest because she is now calling for them off and on, and also cos there are no kitten antics to sit and watch and laugh at. We are all missing them so much already!

We've now come to see what an amazing job these animal groups do. Their dedication to helping these unwanted animals, that we as a society have created, is nothing short of amazing. The way they give of their time and their homes is so selfless.

They are "a non-profit registered charity that saves and rehomes abandoned and unwanted dogs and cats in Brisbane on the Gold Coast and surrounding areas in Queensland Australia .. most of our animals are saved from death row in Council Pounds while others have been surrendered to us .. we are 100% No-Kill and as we do not yet have a shelter our animals live with foster carers until the perfect home is found .. this service runs successfully because of our dedicated wonderful foster carers .. volunteers and supporters."

So please, if you're interested in giving a home to one of these animals, giving a donation of any kind, or even in becoming a foster carer, then contact Best Friends Rescue! They really can do with all the help we can give them. I have their button in the right hand column or you can click on their link that is in this posting, just above here.

A kitten is the delight of a household. All day long a comedy is played out by an incomparable actor. ~ Champfleury

A Brumby?? and My Collection

Think I might have made a brumby/white elephant? Or maybe in this case, a mustard horse head!!
Had the brilliant idea to make this for the Christmas edition of The Chocolate Crow, and do it up much more Christmassy. I got it almost finished and realised that it couldn't be put up for sale online, cos it's 94cm (37in) long!! From the top of his head to the end of the stick, and who would want to be paying the postage costs for something that long?? Groan...... Where was my head that day?? :)
So after doing my items for The Crow I finished it and took it along to the Doll & Bear Fair last week-end. No takers there, and given that I don't do a lot of Markets, it may take a little while for him to find another home!
So maybe if you would like to give him a loving home, and you live anywhere near Redcliffe Qld, and could do pick-up, please let me know via email. If you're close enough I could even deliver to you. He's going for only $25.00.
He's really such a cutie.

MY PLACE & YOURS: MY COLLECTION

The meme theme for this week has been set by Kate over at Foxs Lane. Kate says:

I want to see a photo or photos of what it is that you collect.
Then if you feel like it you could let us know what your collection rules are;
Does it have to be green? Does it have to be from another country? Does it have to be second hand or a gift? Does it have to be old or complete?...
What constitutes a collection for you? Is it more than three of the same thing? Is it rare things?
Is your collection ongoing or is it complete?
...what's your story?

As anyone who knows me will already know, my collection obsession at the moment is for suitcases/boxes/trunks and chenille. You're probaly all groaning at the thought of seeing them all again! lol. Cos I have had pics of them all up on this blog before. But sorry, I have to put more up for this post if I'm going to participate. Just close your eyes for a few seconds while you scroll through them. Hee hee.

I have had collections of many different things over the years, as most people do. Mine have included blue and white china, cats & pelicans. But I think I'm having more fun with these than I did with any of the others.

My rules:

Must be vintage. Vintage-ier the better.

Can have character marks.

Will take any colour.

Think that's about it for rules, really.

This is the chenille that is on view.

But imagine if you can.......
(and don't forget those little cases under the window in the background above)

more chenille hiding in most of these cases in my studio!

The large brown case against the wall (approx 3ft long) holds all our Christmas decorations, and that's a lovely old cane basket on top of it (hidden by the chenille chooks) which has a really old black padlock on one handle. Belongs to mum. I told her I was keeping it for posterity! :)
The large green metal trunk holds our heavy Winter jackets.

These, you all saw in a previous meme theme. All empty, sitting beside my bed.

Last one...... an old, old wooden box that I keep out on the deck. Another one of mum's. Yep.....posterity again! lol.
Love this one, cos apart from the brass fittings and the timbre of the wood, it has a lock that sounds a musical note when you turn the key! How cool is that?
Can't see me ending these collections anytime soon, but I suppose a house can only hold so many cases/boxes/trunks and old chenille bedspreads...........Nah!!! It can hold all I can get!!!! (Ooh speaking of which......sorry Cathy. Had meant to email you and tell you that yes, chenille is candlewick. Was talking to an English lady at the Fair last weekend and she comfirmed it for me, cos I really didn't know when you asked.)

If you're up for having a peek at others' collections then visit Meet me at Mike's and click on the links to other blogs. Sure to be some brilliant ones.

Thanks for visiting.

You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

My Place & Yours: Through the Front Door

Time for another meme theme from Meet me at Mike's. This week's theme has been set by Shelley of Femme De Montmartre, and it's Through the Front Door. Quoting Shelley:

"Hello! If you're anything like me, regardless of how good a time you've had or where you've been, you love coming home. Am I right? Do you?! Sure, there's plenty of work to be done, not sure how much longer our kitchen floor will last, for example, but it's my sanctuary and the people I live with are superb little (and big) beings! So, my choice as honoured (and honourable?!!) Theme Queen for this week is - Through the Front Door. What is it you see when you enter your home? And how do you feel? Whatever happens when you walk through your front door, we want to know about it!"

Mmmmm.......interesting. :)

This of course is my front door, but like a lot of other people, we tend to use the back door much more often. No idea how that came to be, but there you have it. The car is parked under the house and the back door is closer than the front, so that's maybe a reason for it. Probably not very good Feng Shui either! :)

As you open the front door this is the first view of the interior of the house. This is the "unused" end of the lounge room.
Not sure that I can really say exactly what I think or feel when I walk through the front door...well not anything suitable to put here!! Maybe......oh no, the grey carpet is still here and why hasn't it taken itself off into oblivion??
Sorry, I'm not very keen on my house, and I think I realised one day(another epiphany?!) that it is because I've always considered it a house and not a home. We've been here for around 21 years, and it was only supposed to be for about 5! So even though that point has long passed, and I became resigned to staying here for much longer, I think my attitude never changed. Sad huh? Not liking the area doesn't help much I suppose. But I am working on it. Don't get me wrong......once I had this realisation I started work on trying to change things. Might just take a little while. :)
I do have things in the house that I love and treasure and that helps a lot too. eg., my grandmother's pendulum station clock, old boxes and basket of my mother's......other things like that. Oh and of course the husband and cats!! lol.

As you swing around to the left you can see the rest of the lounge room and also the dining room with the pantry behind the table and chairs.

Just for good measure I've thrown in a pic looking out the front door, cos I love all the green stuff in the front yard that tries(not too successfully, to hide the hideous tarmac of the street which sits approx 10mt(30ft) from the front door. Oh my, but I hate living so close on this street!! My biggest worry is all the exhaust that we must be breathing in. Cough, cough, splutter!
But now that the husband has retired, we do have plans to try to make the move to a quieter and cleaner area. Trying to work out where and how will be the next trick! Look out Jackie! We're coming!!! lolol.
Thanks for reading through this ramble of mine.



Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action. ~ Benjamin Disraeli

My Place and Yours: My Secret Weapon

I found the meme theme for this week a bit of a challenge I have to say. This week's choice was set by Deedrie from My Bricole.

But after much thought I think I'd have to say My Secret Weapon would have to be my hands.
I came to a realisation the other day, that if I get out and do something with my hands, (whether that something is crafty or even making an item that is needed around the house), then it can pull me out of a particularly low moment. You know those times when you just know that you're wallowing in your "lowness" and it's hard to kick it? Happens way too often around here!
I mean, I've probably always known that "doing" something will help to lift you up, but this realisation was, that it's actually creating "that something" with my hands that does it for me! Not just reading or walking etc. Mind you the ultimate trick is getting myself to "just do it now"!!! I can find that extemely difficult sometimes depending on how low I am at the time. But then I'm sure there are many of you in the same boat.
The thing I made the other day that led me to this epiphany was only a play tunnel for the cats, but after feeling how I felt when I was finished (as well as seeing how much the cats loved playing in it), I started to think about other times I had created, with those hands when I had told myself to just do it. About how I had felt and also what my internal dialogue was, afterwards.
Voila! Huge realisation. :)
To see other people's secret weapon, visit Meet Me at Mike's.


According to the laws of aerodynamics, the bumblebee cannot fly.....
I guess no one bothered to tell the bee. ~ Unknown

Christmas is just around the corner again!!!

Yes it is!
And it's almost time for the changeover for November for Chocolate Crow (on the 15th) and it's the Christmas Edition which only belts that fact home even harder. The time between now and then flies so fast for me. So much faster than the break-neck speed that the rest of the year manages to do. Help!! That's how loud my pleas sound in my ears when life starts to spiral out of control like this. :-) Oh well, I usually get there in the end, as I imagine most of us do.
Joolz wasn't able to manage an item for this change, so I've done two and Clare has done a great job on hers.

I've gone all out with the Christmas theme and dipped into the chenille again! What a great shade of Christmassy green for the stocking and tree don't you think?

I also decided to try my hand at some faux food with a Christmas Pudding that came out very scrummy looking, even if I do say so myself! :-))

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SUMMERTIME DOLL & BEAR FAIR

The Coffee Shop Auditorium

RNA Showgrounds, Gregory Terrace

Brisbane.

This weekend coming, 15th November from 9am.

Joolz and I are selling from Table No 71, and we'd love to see you. So come and say hello and have a chat. To make it interesting........if you mention you read this post, then I'll take 10% off any of my goodies that I'll have up on the table. This is only for my things though. Not Joolz's.

Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning how to dance in the rain.

AND THE WINNER IS...........

I've drawn the winner for a bit of Spring Bling, and she is elaine r!!!
Well done Elaine. Congrats. All you have to do now is send me an e mail with your postal details and I'll post your bear off to you asap!

I'd like to thank all of you who entered the giveaway. Thanks for commenting and for becoming a follower if you did.